Chapter 2
Author's note: Yes, I know that in WoW Orc women look like porn queens with creature masks on. I also know that no Fel Orcs have been seen to look like this, and the two populations have been separated for some time now. I blame genetic drift.
Night fell only three or four hours after the portal closed. Unfamiliar stars showed against the cloudless black sky, and a thin slice of moon eventually rose. The temperature dropped quickly as the pale sun set, and the Orcs who did not stand guard kept close together for warmth. The peons, with their shaven heads, again found the most difficulty. Veren Redmorning sent them in shifts to dig latrines, so they would have something to do.
Then he sought out the surviving warlocks. He found them standing in a tight group at the center of the clearing, mana fizzling invisibly around them as they tried to use it to keep warm.
"Yes, Chieftain?" said one close to the edge as he saw Veren approach.
"I need to talk to Shel'yin son of Vel'yen," Veren said.
A warlock edged from the left side of the little formation. Most Orcs were taller than Veren. Shel'yin was taller than most Orcs. He towered over Redmorning even more than he did the other warlocks. Redmorning noted that, while he could easily have shoved his way to the warm center of the group, he had not done so.
"How can I help?" Shel'yin asked, politely enough. He seemed subdued, but under the circumstances, it was not surprising.
"You were Nel'hesh's apprentice," Veren said.
"I was," Shel'yin said.
"I need to know whatever he told you about this place," Veren said.
"That will take a long time, Chieftain," the warlock said.
"We've got all night," Veren said. "Walk with me, Warlock."
"I am curious as to why you chose me," Shel'yin said as they began to pace the roughly circular edge of the clearing. "All four had apprentices."
"Nel'hesh was the oldest, and knew the most," Veren said. "I know he saw far, and divined many things. And I think he knew that he, at least, would not survive the journey. I meant no disrespect to him with what I said earlier."
"He would not have taken offense," Shel'yin said, perhaps a little grudgingly. "I, too, believe he expected this. He had my oath before we left."
"What oath was that?"
Shel'yin shrugged broad shoulders. "To serve you. To serve the clan."
"I'm not sure we could be called a clan," Veren said, glancing around at the small group. "Few as we are, the other Fel may never know that we left. I doubt the Stormrage ever will."
"I am not certain of that," Shel'yin said. "The Blood Elves are sensitive to discharges of magic. They will find the frame, unless it was destroyed, and it will not be difficult to guess what it was for. I do not believe they can trace our destination."
"Good," Veren said. "We'll have enough trouble here, if what I've heard is any indication."
"Yes," Shel'yin said. "I believe Nel'hesh was most concerned about the Night Elves."
"And what exactly are Night Elves?"
Shel'yin began to explain. Veren listened with few interruptions. Afterward, Shel'yin began to go into the other races of Azeroth, and what Nel'hesh had known or guessed about them.
"It sounds as if we might find something in common with this Scourge," Veren said. "If they freed themselves from the demons as well."
Shel'yin turned his head sharply, his eyes glowing faintly green in the dark.
"The Lich King controls them," he said. "To their very minds. None of the Scourge can be trusted."
"As far as we are concerned, no one can," Veren said. "Least of all the other Orcs, if what you tell me is true."
"My Master believed they would not accept us," Shel'yin said. "It is doubtful whether we could convince them we are free of Magtheridon's control, since we have not adopted their religion."
"With any luck, we're far to the West of them now," Veren said.
"Luck," Shel'yin said. His tone of voice made it clear what he thought of this idea.
"I see you've absorbed Nel'hesh's cheery optimism," Veren said. "Just a moment, if you would." As they neared the peons, Veren trotted over and gave a few instructions.
"You're letting them start a fire?" Shel'yin said, as the peons began bustling about gathering up dry sticks. "Is that wise, Chieftain?"
"Wiser than letting them freeze," Redmorning said. "If we're going to be attacked, I'd rather everyone was warm enough to move fast. You may be able to burn mana, but they can't. Now. You were saying?"
Shel'yin resumed his grim recounting of all the things on Kalimdor that were likely to want to kill Fel Orcs. The blademaster and the warlock kept walking as the peons built a small fire in the middle of the clearing. From the corner of his eye, Veren saw the warriors who were not on guard begin to edge toward it.
He sighed. Lev and Kerd are both out scouting, and I don't have time to deal with this.
"You," he said, seizing a passing grunt by the arm. "What's your name?"
"Begrin Hardbouder, Chieftain," the Orc said.
"Hardbounder? You have any relatives in the Shadowmoon?"
"Not any more," Begrin said. "The Draenei got them all a couple months ago. It's why I came."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Veren said. The grunt shrugged. "I want you to do something for me, Hardbounder. I don't want everyone around the fire at once, and I don't want the peons shoved out of the way just because they're smaller. I need a rotation set up."
"I'm just a grunt," Hardbounder said. "Nobody's going to listen to me."
"Yes, they will," Veren said. He reached back and extracted the gray flag from his harness. "Take this. If anyone argues with you, send them to me."
"Yes, Chieftain!" Hardbounder nodded respectfully and turned toward the fire.
"Now," Veren said, turning back to Shel'yin. The warlock stood with folded arms. Like Veren and most of the warriors, he wore no shirt, but unlike most, the cold did not seem to bother him.
Scouts came and went from the edges of the camp as the night wore on. One or two came back with dead animals, rabbits or deer or small birds not entirely unlike the ones on Outland. Brown and white seemed more common colors than red. Peons immediately set to clean and cook them, and Veren was pleased to see that there was no problem with distributing the food. Perhaps we'll make a clan after all.
The night seemed interminable. Redmorning walked quickly, trying to keep the feeling from leaving his feet as he listened to the warlock speak. The ground felt very cold through his thin shoes, and he had to force himself not to look at the fire.
The sky began to pale at last, and not long afterward Kerd Bladeleaper rode in from the trees. Veren watched her as he walked. She conversed with the other scouts for a while, slouching in the saddle, then urged her wolf over toward Veren and Shel'yin. Like most of her subordinates, she went shirtless.
It beats me how the Blood Elves ever manage to reproduce, ugly as their women are, Veren thought, not for the first time. If I had big lumps of fat on my chest, I'd cover them, too.
He managed to keep his teeth from chattering as he said,
"You've been gone a long time, Bladeleaper. Anything to report?"
Kerd rubbed her narrow jaw. "I think we found a place to set up camp, Chieftain," she said in a coarse alto. "There's sort of an outcropping sticking up about four miles away. There's a stream close by, and we think there are metals we can mine in the side of the rock. I left Darksun there to keep an eye on it. There's sort of a problem."
Her tone of voice made it clear that "sort of" meant "extremely serious."
"What's the trouble, Kerd?" Veren asked.
"Spiders," the raider said. "Lots and lots of them."
"So?" Veren said patiently. "Just hack down the webs. We'll use them for bandages the first time we run into a real enemy."
"No, Chieftain," Kerd said tiredly. "I mean big spiders. There's one bigger than a Fel ravager. The other five are the size of Lightrunner here." She thumped the wolf on the shoulder. "They're sitting all around the mine entrance. There are piles and piles of bones, and web all over the ground. Lev got stuck in it, and I had an exciting couple of minutes cutting him out. One of them was spitting at us."
"You didn't say anything about giant spiders," Redmorning said, turning back to Shel'yin. The warlock folded his arms again, looking smugly down on the other two.
"I didn't know about them," he said. "I'm sure there must be plenty of wild animals my Master's divinations never uncovered. We'll probably all be killed and eaten within a month."
"Thank you, Shel'yin," Veren said. "Do your best not to share that belief with the others, will you? At least until after I get killed and eaten. Go see if anyone wants to volunteer to come with me."
Shel'yin did not budge. "I'll go," he said. "I'm sure we both will die, but I gave my oath."
"Then see if anyone else will come," Veren sighed. "And try to avoid putting it in just those terms. All right?"