Core of the Mountain

"This place is dark, but it feels like home too.." Melonara looked over to Athrodar who smiled a little. "Do you feel that too?"

"I do." Athrodar agreed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "It's like..."

"... Returning home after being away for far too long." Melonara answered for him, watching him nod his head. "Come on, let's go find a tree that looks easy to climb." She looked up at the trees surrounding them. "These are far too high and difficult to climb after practically running here."

"That's a good point." Athrodar said, looking up at the trees too. "We should probably find somewhere with water, preferably a lake or a river just to refill our pouches. Maybe somewhere to rest too."

Melonara looked around their nearby surroundings to try and find what they were looking for and only coming up with trees, trees and more trees. "I think we should head east. Check for a river and if we can't find any after an hour, we should double back and head west."

"Works for me." Athrodar said, slowly heading east and being followed by his second shortly after. "This place is really calming, compared to where we just were. If we landed here instead of that barren place, I think we would have been much better off."

Melonara nodded in agreement. "That I can agree with."

They both continued to head east for ten minutes before the sound of a twig snapping stopped them from moving, forcing them both to spin on their heels and face the direction the sound had come from. "Stay alert." Athrodar said, pulling out an arrow from his quiver and placing it on his bow, drawing the projectile back a little and scanning the area.

"Come out." Melonara said, trying to find the creature that made the sound. "I have a bad feeling about this." She muttered.

"So do I." Athrodar agreed, scanning the area and spotting a pair of red eyes glaring at him. "Mel, when I let loose this arrow, get ready for a fight."

Melonara looked around and noticed the red eyes too, nodding her head slowly. "Got it." She whispered, pulling back the arrow on her bow and waiting for the attack.

Athrodar let loose his arrow, hitting the creature watching them and hearing a blood gurgling roar. "Orcs." He said, knowing that sound from anywhere. "Be on guard!" He yelled, pulling out a second arrow.

Melonara let loose her arrow into a second orc that came charging through the trees, hitting them in the arm and diving out the way when they swung their axe down at her. "There's more coming." She warned, hearing a war horn blow in the distance. "We need to make this quick."

"I'm trying." Athrodar told her, dodging and ducking out the way of the orc's attacks and thanking his lucky stars that he managed to injure the orc with the arrow he fired. He ducked under the next strike and slashed his sword across the stomach of the orc. "They're tougher than I remember."

Melonara ducked under the next strike coming from the orc she was fighting, watching as their axe embedded itself into a nearby tree and smirking at how easy the kill had just become, plunging her sword into their back and hearing the orc let out a painful roar. "What the.." She muttered, pulling out the sword and watching the orc let go of their axe and try to hit her with their fists.

Athrodar cut down the orc he was fighting, moving on to help Melonara but being stopped by two more orcs who appeared through the trees. "Well... Alright then." He said, spinning his sword around and watching the two orcs closely. "Who's next?" He asked, hearing the howls of wolves and the thundering charge of more orcs behind him.

Cutting down the orc she was fighting, Melonara looked over to Athrodar who danced and dodged the orcs attacks and made her way over to him. She swung her sword at the nearest orc, cutting their arm deeply and taking a step back when a fist came back towards her from the orc. "Look out!" She yelled, watching a giant wolf charge towards Athrodar and tackle him, clamping down on his arm when he tried to block his face from its jaw.

"Gah!" Athrodar cried, reaching for his knife and sticking it into the wolf to force the beast to let go of his arm. "Mel!" He yelled, watching two arrows hit the side of the wolf on top of him, followed by three more.

"I'm here." Melonara yelled back, kneeling down beside him and watching several arrows fly through the air and hit the orcs around them, followed by a group of elves dropping down from the surrounding trees and engaging with the orcs in melee. "We have company." She told him, looking over to his arm and reaching in her pouch for a bandage. "Hold on."

Athrodar grit his teeth tightly when she began to wrap his arm in bandages, looked over to the fighting taking place beside them. "Kaldorei." He muttered.

"Huh?" Melonara asked, looking over to the elves. "Oh... I don't know if they're friendly or not, especially after all these years."

"At least we know we're in Ashenvale." Athrodar said, closing his eyes when the pain of the wolf bite began to pulse through his body. "Damn this hurts."

"Maybe you shouldn't block a wolf's attack with your arm." Melonara told him, hearing him laugh and picking up her sword. "Stay here." She said, helping him towards a tree. "I'm going to help them, maybe it will make talking to them easier once this fight is over."

"Just don't get killed, or anger them." Athrodar told her, holding onto his arm and closing his eyes to try and ignore the pain.

Melonara killed one of the orcs with the help of a night elf, watching the rest of the orcs either flee or get killed by the elves, letting out a small sigh of exhaustion and turning her attention to the Night Elves who drew their weapons on her now. "Oh come on. I'm not one of them." She said, pointing her sword at a dead orc beside her.

"Drop the weapon, intruder." One of the Kaldorei told her, nodding over to Athrodar and having two Kaldorei pick him up and push him over to Melonara. "What are you two doing here."

Athrodar held onto his arm and looked over to Melonara who still had her sword in hand. "Drop the weapon, Mel. We're no match for them if they want to fight."

"Fine." Melonara said, dropping her sword and having her hands taken and tied behind her back. "Hey, easy." She said, being forced onto her knees with Athrodar. "He's injured, don't hurt him." Melonara told them, hearing him groan as they tied his arms behind his back too.

"I'm going to ask you again, why are you both here?" The lead Kaldorei asked, standing in front of them both. "These are sacred lands to our people, anyone who enters them without permission are deemed a threat."

"We're scouting." Athrodar told them, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes as this position made his arm scream out in pain. "We didn't know where we were until we saw you."

"Scouting what?" The Kaldorei asked, standing in front of Athrodar.

"A place for the group of humans we are escorting to stay." He told them, glancing over to Melonara who frowned at him.

"Why are you telling them everything?" Melonara asked him in Thalassian.

"Because it's the only way to get them to trust us." Athrodar told her back in the same tongue.

"A group of humans?" They asked, folding their arms and looking down at both Athrodar and Melonara in front of them. "Where are they now?"

"In the Barrens to our south. They're marching west with two full companies of rangers from Silvermoon as their escorts." Athrodar told them. "We were here to look for a place for them to stay, if there were any of those orcs here and return to them when we have answers."

Melonara looked over to the Kaldorei and watched them begin to talk to each other. "Should we be worried?" She asked, glancing over to Athrodar who was closing his eyes tightly. "Are you okay?" She asked, watching the blood from his arm due to the bite begin to seep through the bandages and down his arm. "Hey, look at me." She said, looking him in the eyes when he looked over to her. "Hang in there okay? I'll see if they have a healer."

Athrodar nodded his head, trying to ignore the pain. "I'll be fine." He told her, not fully hearing what she said.

"Hey, he needs a healer." Melonara told them, glancing over to Athrodar who continued to grit his teeth in pain. "Hey!" She yelled, interrupting their talks. "He needs a healer!"

"Pick them up." The lead Kaldorei said, handing two of their kin a blindfold each. "Blindfold them and take them with us." They looked over to Melonara. "He'll get his healer when we make it to our destination."

Melonara was forced up onto her feet and looked over to Athrodar seconds before she was blindfolded, clenching her fists tightly and being pushed forward. "Okay, I'm moving." She told the Night Elf behind her.

"We're getting close." Jaina told them, looking over to the long mountain in front of them. "It's just up there."

Clea walked beside her General, looking at her closely. "You're quiet, General." She said, looking at Sylvanas who looked back to her. "Something on your mind?"

"It's nothing." Sylvanas told her, looking forward once again. "I just have a bad feeling about something."

"Bad feeling about what exactly?" Clea asked.

Sylvanas smiled a little. "What did I tell you about prying?" She asked her, smiling a little wider when she saw Clea look away from her. "It's okay, I'll tell you." She then said, looking back towards the mountain they were walking towards. "I have a bad feeling something is about to happen, or has happened... I'm not quite sure. But it's been bugging me for a while now."

"Do you think it's Athrodar?" Clea asked, watching Sylvanas shrug her shoulders.

"I don't know." She told her, looking over to Clea again. "Gather some scouts and wait for my command."

"General." Clea said, bowing to her and leaving to gather four rangers.

"We're being followed." Lor'themar whispered, walking beside Sylvanas.

Sylvanas raised an eyebrow at the Ranger Lord, looking over to him. "By who?"

"I'm not sure." Lor'themar said, looking behind them and towards the mountain ranges. "It's not an army, but it is... Something."

Sylvanas looked behind them as well, trying to find the spy and only seeing her company and Lor'themar's company. "We'll see them soon enough." She told the Ranger Lord. "We're closing in on the mountain Lady Proudmoore and Prince Kael'thas are leading us to, so if they're here to stop us, they'll show themselves soon."

"And if they're a spy for an enemy?" Lor'themar asked.

"Then we'll have a fight when we get there." Sylvanas told him, looking over to Clea who reported back to her. "Keep the party on standby." She told her.

"General." Clea said, bowing again to her.

"Sit them down."

Melonara was forced down onto a chair, hearing Athrodar sit down beside her and having her ear twitch when she heard talking outside of the room they were in. "Now what?" She asked whomever was in the room with them.

"You'll wait whilst I get the Captain." The Night Elf that led them here said, placing two guards outside the room whilst they left to find their Captain.

"Athrodar, are you okay?" Melonara asked, not seeing him but knowing he was beside her. "How much pain are you in?"

"It's not that bad." He told her. "I almost can't feel it."

Melonara laughed lightly. "Liar."

"Take the blindfolds off them." A new voice said, standing in front of the two rangers and looking down at them whilst they had the blindfolds removed. "Why are you in my forests?" They asked the moment they could see.

"We're scouting." Melonara told them, looking over to Athrodar and watching his head sway a little. "Look, we will answer all the questions you have, just heal my Lieutenant and we'll openly talk."

The Captain looked over to Athrodar and then back to the guards posted outside. "Send for a priestess." They told one of them, looking back to Melonara and Athrodar. "Whilst we wait, how about some introductions."

Melonara looked over to Athrodar and then down at the bindings around his wrists. "One more thing." Melonara said, looking back to the Captain. "Unbind our wrists. He has a bite on his arm by a wolf and is in pain, he's too stubborn to admit it but I know he is."

The Captain made their way both Athrodar and Melonara, pulling out a knife and moving the blade behind their backs. "Hold still." They said, cutting the ropes binding their wrists.

"Thank you." Athrodar muttered, having his hands freed and then placing one over the blood-soaked bandages. "MY name... Is Athrodar Sunblade." He said, closing his eyes and smiling a little when he felt Melonara place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine." He told her, looking over to his second. "I'm a Farstrider Lieutenant and chief scout to the Ranger-General."

"And I'm Melonara Manaleaf, second scout to Athrodar and the Ranger-General." She looked over to his injured arm and saw he was still bleeding. "How long until the healer is here?" She asked, returning her attention to the Captain.

"Soon." The Captain said. "Since you've introduced yourselves, I suppose it's my turn. I'm Elaria Moonbow, Captain of the Sentinels of Darnassus and since I'm not in Darnassus, you will answer several questions I have about those beasts destroying my forests."

"They're called orcs." Athrodar told her.

Melonara looked over to the entrance of the room their were in, watching a priestess make her way over to Athrodar and begin to heal his arm when she noticed his wounds. "They shouldn't be over here." Melonara said, looking back to Elaria. "They're from a different world entirely and came here to conquer us. They've been on Azeroth for a couple decades now have changed the landscape of the Eastern Kingdoms in that time."

"How do you mean?" Elaria asked, folding her arms and looking at the high elf before her.

"They've changed the lands. The land of where the portal they came through is dead and dried up, farmlands have been destroyed where they and their tainted magic had resided there for too long. Other Kingdoms have fallen to their might and savagery, alliances have been formed and broken because of them." Melonara looked over to Athrodar again, placing a hand on his good arm. "Even family members have been slaughtered by them."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Elaria told them, waving over one of the guards. "Send word to the General, tell her we know the names of the creatures cutting and burning down our forest." She told them in Darnassian, looking back to Melonara and Athrodar. "Tell her we have two Quel'dorei we found fighting them and have them resting in Astranaar."

"When he's healed, can we leave?" Melonara asked, looking up at Elaria. "We're here to scout for a home for the humans we are escorting with our General and two hundred other rangers. We need to tell them that these lands are off limits."

"As much as I understand your task, you can't leave. Not yet, anyway." Elaria looked over to Athrodar who was still being treated by the priestess. "For one thing, your Lieutenant still needs healing. But the real reason why you can't leave yet is because we still have questions."

"What kind of questions?" Melonara asked, narrowing her eyes at Elaria.

"How many of you are in the Barrens, why are you really here and why you're all marching to Stonetalon Mountains. There is nothing there that is inhabitable long term so unless you're all planning to march north into my forests or south all the way into Feralas, the part about finding a home for the humans is either a lie, or only partly true." Elaria sat down on the chair opposite them, placing a hand on the table in between them and tapping three of her fingers on the top of it. "So, start with those three and we'll go from there."

"Six hundred, give or take." Athrodar told her, looking down at the healing on his arm and up at the priestess who was concentrating on his wound. "We think there is something happening on Kalimdor. Our Prince believes the Burning Legion are returning and have set up a base of operations here on Kalimdor."

"We were attacked by the undead back home." Melonara told her. "Our Prince believes they are connected to the Burning Legion because of the traitor Prince of the humans who led them appeared at the same time as a prophet who informed the humans to travel to Kalimdor."

"A prophet?" Elaria asked them.

"Yes, a prophet. We don't know if it's true, or if he even is a prophet." Athrodar looked over the Captain opposite him. "But the leader of the humans with us, Lady Proudmoore, believes he is a prophet and believes that they need to come to Kalimdor to survive." He looked back to the priestess healing his arm, smiling at her when he saw she had healed him. "Thank you."

"So is that why you're in my forest?" Elaria now asked them.

"No." Athrodar told her. "We're here for the reason we said. We're scouting these forests so we can find a place for the humans to call home as well as hopefully getting them away from the Barrens and the orcs roaming those lands." He sighed and looked over to his arm that was healed. "Turns out that was the wrong move."

"Okay..." Elaria said, watching them and tapping her finger on the table. "Lastly, why are you all marching to Stonetalon?"

"Lady Proudmoore and our Prince sensed powerful magic to the west of where we were and ordered everyone to march that way." Melonara looked over to Athrodar who nodded his head. "We don't know why though, whether they think the Burning Legion are there or some sort of artifact, we don't know."

"All we do know is, we're escorting the humans until they find a place to call home and if we run into any demons, we will follow or kill them just to try and find their leader." Athrodar told her.

Elaria tapped a finger on the table in front of her. "Wait here." She said, standing up and leaving them alone in the room for a couple minutes before a new elf joined them.

"The Captain has left and put me in charge of you two for the time being." They said, looking at Athrodar and then Melonara.

"And you are?" Melonara asked.

"Lieutenant Sera'thea of the Ashenvale Sentinels." She answered, looking over to Athrodar. "You just finished speaking to my sister, who is leaving to report in to our General." She looked back to Melonara. "And I know you two want to report back to your General too, but I've been given orders to keep you company whilst you stay in Astranaar for the time being."

"Great... We get an escort in a town we're prisoners of." Melonara muttered.

"Not prisoners, just guests." Sera'thea corrected.

"Guests who can't leave." Athrodar then corrected her, watching her smile a little at him. "Exactly. Like she said, prisoners."

"Fine, you're prisoners. But you're still going to be guarded by an escort led by me and I'll make sure everyone treats you like guests during your stay." Sera'thea told him. "You're to stay here until General Feathermoon arrives, then you'll be handed over to her."

"I have a feeling we're never returning to our company." Melonara said, leaning back in her chair and looking up at the roof. "Great... Just when I was starting to bond with them."

"Only until the General is satisfied she has gotten everything she needs out of you." Sera'thea told her. "Stick to the truth, hold nothing back and you'll be allowed to leave as soon as possible." Her attention returned to Athrodar when he narrowed his eyes at her. "I promise that will happen, I have no reason to lie. You're already my prisoners."

"Hah! So you are keeping us as prisoners!" Melonara yelled, pointing at Sera'thea. "I knew it!"

"She did admit that's what was happening." Athrodar told her, watching Melonara's face drop from joy of getting her guess correct to one of sadness, noticing her pout shortly after. "But fine... I have nothing better to do now that we're captured." He looked over to Sera'thea. "So I suppose we just sit here and wait now."

"Brilliant, looking forward to it." Melonara muttered, folding her arms on the table and burying her face in her arms.

"Just in here." Jaina said, making her way inside a cave at the base of the mountain.

"Stay close." Sylvanas told everyone, moving her company to the front of the group whilst Lor'themar moved his to the back. "This is a prime location for an ambush and since we're so compact in this cave, the right spell could decimate us."

"Thanks for the confidence boost, General." Lor'themar muttered, hearing Sylvanas laugh lightly.

"Sorry." She told him.

"It's getting stronger the further in we get." Kael'thas said, glancing over to Jaina who had a smile on her face, knowing she could feel it too.

They traveled through the cave for almost half an hour before reaching a chamber that seemed to be at the core of the mountain. "It's here... Somewhere." Jaina said, looking around the chamber they found themselves in. "I can sense it."

Sylvanas stood in the middle of the chamber, watching Jaina and the mages with her, along with Kael'thas begin to look for whatever it is they were here for, having her ear twitch and turning her attention to a tunnel on her right, one they didn't walk through. "Someone's coming."

Lor'themar along with his company and Sylvanas along with her company, all held onto their bows and pulled out an arrow from their quivers, nocking and drawing back the projectiles in their bows and waiting for the intruder to make themselves known. "I knew we were being followed."

Sylvanas shook her head. "This isn't coming from the tunnel we just walked through." She told the Ranger Lord, hearing several footsteps coming from the tunnel she was looking at. "There's more than one."

"Orcs." Lor'themar said, making everyone aim at the tunnel the intruders were walking through.

"Stop!" Sylvanas yelled. "Take another step and we won't hesitate in killing you.

When the orcs didn't stop, the elves let loose a barrage of arrows into them and killed all the orcs at the front of the group. At first there was nothing but silence, but roars of anger quickly took over and forced the orcs to charge forward and engage in combat with the elves in the chamber. What nobody expected was the orcs weren't alone. Bovine creatures known as Tauren began to charge in with them and tackle the elves onto the ground with their horns as well as orc shaman casting lightning spells and launching them into the fray, only to have them blocked by Jaina and her mages.

"Enough!" A voice boomed when the fighting began to get intense, forcing both sides onto opposite sides of the chamber and leaving the owner of the voice in the middle. A hooded figure holding onto a staff with a raven carved into the top of it stood between both parties, looking over to the humans and elves then over to the orcs and Tauren. "You weren't summoned here to fight!"

"The prophet..." Jaina muttered, making her way to the front of the elves and humans. "Why are we here?" She asked, looking over to the orcs and Tauren and realising they were summoned here too. "And why are they here?"

"There is an evil in this land greater than your hatred for each other." The prophet said, looking back and forth between the two parties. "The Burning Legion have returned and are threatening to destroy this world and its people! You must work together otherwise you won't succeed in this task, continue to fight each other and the Burning Legion will slaughter you."

"He's kidding, right?" Lor'themar asked, looking over to the prophet whilst he stood beside Sylvanas. "He wants us to work with the beasts who slaughtered our people during the Second War?"

"It doesn't have to be permanent." Sylvanas told him quietly, eyeing the orcs on the other side of the chamber. "We would only have to work with them until we defeat the Burning Legion and then we can go back to hating them." She looked over to the Ranger Lord who nodded his head slowly. "A month or two at most."

"I hope so." Lor'themar whispered, folding his arms and looking at the orcs now. "It would be an insult to work with them for longer."

Sylvanas nodded her head in agreement. "It would."