Part 3: The Fallen Ranger
Maeiv Shadowsong gazed silently down into the valley, upon the sullen, empty plains of Draenor. Her face remainted motionless, her body, stiff and upright. Her gloved hands were clenched, holding her pinwheel tightly to her chest, and her mind was completely blank, sans one burning thought that had been burned into her brain forevermore. Vengeance. It had been many months since she and a small band of her Watchers had followed Illidan through the portal into Outland, but they had still failed to recapture the rogue Demon Hunter. Now, her women were tired, hungry, and restless, the natural morale of the Kaldorei worn away. They knew that they were too late. Illidan had eluded them, and even if they did manage to find him, he and his Naga would surely slay them all. Such thoughts were not held by Maeiv. Her unbearable lust for justice had rotted away any trace of sanity or rational thinking that the Warden had ever held, and giving up the chase was an option that did not exist as far as she was concerned. She would never stop. She was the Hand of Justice.
At that moment, one of Maeiv's troops appeared at her side upon the hill. Her name was Norda Swiftmantle.
"Mistress?" she said, hesitantly.
"What is it, Nordra?" she asked, not diverting her eyes.
"Mistress... we lost Illidan's trail weeks ago. We haven't the slightest clue where the Betrayer is. By now, he could be anywhere."
"Is there a point to this analysis, Norda?"
"Surely..." she began, slowly, "...surely this endless trek is futile, Maeiv?"
The Warden heard these words, and slowly turned around to face the Night Elf. She pursed her cold blue lips, and spoke with a haunting whisper.
"You…
defy me, sister? You defy my judgement?"
"N-no, mistress Shadowsong", she began in panic. "I was merely suggesting that we--"
Maeiv's troops recoiled in horror as a single dagger hit Norda squarely in the chest. She was dead before she hit the ground. Maeiv walked forward and quite calmly withdrew the blood-stained blade from her torso. Not bothering to wipe it clean, she sheathed the dagger, and turned round to face the rest of her women.
"I will not hear such insolence. Illidan is out there somewhere, and until we have brought him to justice and righted the foolishness of Tyrande and Shan'do we shall not give up. Is there anyone else who has a problem with this?"
The Watchers remained silent, in a state of terrified shock.
"I didn't think so."
Later that day...
"Stop."
Maeiv and her troops had continued their trek across Outland. For hours they had wandered in a futile march across the empty crimson plains. There was nothing. No sign of Illidan, no sigh of any other form of life, nothing. That was, until...
"A… a campfire."
Maeiv knelt down and examined the small pile of stones and timber. It was no longer lit, and so she lowered her hands to touch it. It was still warm... She stood up and turned to face her troops.
"Someone was here, recently," she exclaimed excitedly, the fiery fuel of the chase relighted within her once again. "Illidan, have we found you at last? Come, my sisters! We are closing in on him!"
"Hold it, right there."
The voice was that of a female. It was a cold, calculating voice, unbeknown to Maeiv. The figure was stood behind her, having approached so quickly that she had not noticed her at all. She held a strung longbow in her hands, and it was aimed towards Maeiv's head.
"Put your hands in the air, where I can see them," said the stranger.
Maiev grunted in surprise, and slowly began to raise her arms. The figure turned her head to the right to face the rest of the Watcher's.
"I have my bow aimed at your leader's neck," she spoke, venomously. "If any of you try to pull anything, I shan't hesitate to kill her. Now drop your weapons,and put your arms in the air. All of you."
The Watcher's hesitantly lowered their arms and pointed their bows downwards.
"Do as I say! Or I will kill you all!"
They laid their bows on the ground, and then also put their arms up in surrender.
"You," snarled the ambusher, facing Maeiv once again. "Turn around. Let me see your face."
Maeiv slowly rotated, biting her lip in frustration. How could she have allowed her guard to fall so easily! Now that she faced her, she could now see the strange woman fully for the first time.She bore a shabby green coat which almost completely covered her body, the hood hiding her face from sight. The cloak had almost completely been ripped to shreds. The longbow which she aimed at Maeiv did not appear to be professionally made. Rather, it seemed to be constructed roughly from various random pieces of wood and string.
"Night Elves?" hissed the woman, with bemusment. "Do my weary eyes deceive me?"
Maeiv shook her head, her arms still in the air.
"Put down your bow, stranger. Your eyes do see clearly. I am Maeiv Shadowsong, the Warden of the Barrow Deeps, and these are my brethren. We are the Watchers. We have come from Azeroth to this barren wasteland of a planet to hunt down the Betrayer: Illidan Stormrage."
"Liar," she replied.
"Excuse
me?" hissed Maeiv, her usual manner of addressing people returning.
"You did not come here from Azeroth, 'Night Elf'. You could not. The Dark Portal is shut!" she cried. "Now tell me, or I shall slay you all on the spot. Who are you? Are you in league with the Draenei?"
"I... do not know who or what the Dranei are, stranger," replied Maeiv, sincerely. "But I can assure you, I speak the truth."
The figure warily lowered her bow slightly, but still kept her finger pressed tightly against the bow string.
"You must be a Ranger, judging from your competence with that bow. What is your name?" asked Maeiv.
"My name?" she said in surprise. "My name is irrelevant. I have no use for a name anymore."
"Please. I would prefer knowing one to address you with."
There was a moment of silence.
"Very
well," she said, eventually.
The figure raised her gloved hands to her hood and pulled it down, revealing a flowing head of filthy blonde hair. Her skin was of a pale pink complexion, and her ears stretched back far into the air. There was no doubt about it. She was a High Elf. Across one half of her face there was a peculiar red marking. Her eyes were blue, and they burned with an air of madness. Her face was withered and wrinkled, and she seemed to be extremely overwraught with fatigue. She opened her red lips.
"Alleria," she said slowly. "Alleria Windrunner."
"Greetings, Alleria," said Maeiv. "Now, please answer me. Have you seen the Betrayer, Illidan Stormrage?"
"I'M THE ONE ASKING THE QUESTIONS!" snapped Alleria, raising the bow threateningly once again. "Tell me now! How did you come here, to Draenor?"
Alleria's wild outburst seemed to have drained her of the little energy she had left. Gone was her wild, savage expression, and a new light of hopelessness and vulenrability seemed to enter her.
"I…" she stuttered, her voice choking up. "I have been trapped in this forsaken land for the past forty years. So I beg of you, Maeiv. Please. Show me the way back home."
Maeiv saw the look of desperation in the High Elf's eyes. She had clearly been trapped in Draenor for a long time, and it was plain to see that the experience had scarred her. She was... pathetic. The Warden could tell that she would do anything to get out of this place. And that was why she could not tell the truth. They had followed Illidan into Outland through a temporary portal that Illidan had opened, but that way was now shut. She had no idea how to get back to Azeroth, but Alleria didn't need to know that. If they could give the wretched thing a false glimmer of hope, her desire for freedom would drive her to any lengths. She would be a very valuable asset to the hunt…
After a few seconds, Maeiv spoke once more.
"We shall show you the way back Alleria, but on our terms."
"Very well," said Alleria, dispondantly. "What would you have me do?"
"I have already told you that we are going after Illidan, correct? You shall help us. Once we have recaptured him I shall show you how to return to Azeroth."
Alleria nodded.
"Very well."
As Alleria lowered her bow, a cruel smile played along Maeiv's lips. If deception was the price she had to pay to hunt down Illidan… so be it.
There goes Part 3! And so the plot thickens. For those that didn't play the Warcraft 2 expansion pack, Alleria was a character featured in the Human campaign of that. She was part of the expedition to venture into Draenor, which ended in her and her companions closing the Dark Portal, eliminating the way back home. If anyone thinks her surname sounds familiar also, that is because she is the sister of Sylvanas Windrunner, the High Elf Ranger turned Dark Lady of the Forsaken. Anyway, Part 4: The Betrayer will be up soon!
ShadowsFury: Thank you very much! You'll have to wait and see if you're happy with what I've done with Illidan! He will be in the next chapter, and we'll be seeing a fair bit of him further down the line as well.
As always, thanks a lot for the reviews (finding feedback waiting for me in my Inbox makes me a very happy chappy).
