Author's notes section:


2022-02-15: Hey, a small update for the story. So far, it is only a preview. However, I should be able to finish it soon. Please, bear in mind that it is, as mentioned, a preview. Some parts of it might not be included in the final release. As I have promised in the latest chapter of `Silence of the Shackles`, here is a further development of the story.

2022-02-21: Hey, the chapter was finished. Hope you will like it :)

Don't forget to comment. I really appreciate your feedback.

Note that the dialogues written in italic are thoughts.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)

Changelog:
[2022-02-15]: A preview was released.
[2022-02-21]: The chapter was updated, and its final version was released.

Info: Overall, the current plan is for me to write 'My home is where my heart lies' and 'Family tree' alternatively. Between the updates of these stories, I will try to upload other texts. Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to finish some of the short stories. However, I truly doubt that. It seems that most if not all of the stories will be extended both in terms of the time and the number of chapters.

Info: I will try to rewrite some of the older chapters between releasing new ones. I expect to start working on that goal in the middle of January. So, please be informed that the new chapters might take a bit longer to be finished and published.

Bonuses' section:
A new story taking place in the Warhammer 40k universe.
Story of one lost soul: The war call: rewrite.
An entirely new story (possibly Akali x [Irelia, Syndra, Katarina]).
A new short story (Vi x Cait).
An entirely original story (possibly even 2 stories, one taking place in medieval times, the other in the far future)

References:

*bonuses will be worked on when I don't feel like writing the chapters pointed out in the schedule :D


End of the author's notes section.


"Lay down!" a harsh whisper reached Samara's ear. "Our task is to scout ahead, not to fight with these `beasts`," a feminine voice added, dripping with venom.

Samara did not reply; after the past two weeks, she had learnt to obey orders without question. So instead, she lay down flat onto her belly into the high grass. Beside her, a little over a few steps to the right, Analylah lay, scanning the closest surrounding. The seasoned huntress had a scowl all over her face. Something was evidently off.

As soon as the High Pristess' daughter had healed her wounds, she had been sent to training, accompanied by Moonblade. The mission they had been tasked with led them to the sacred forest of their people, Ashenvale. But unfortunately, the situation there looked far more dire than the reports had stated.

Two days ago, they had finally reached Maestra's Post. It was a small outpost guarded by 3 or 4 sentinel's teams. Its primary purpose was to take a vigil of the surrounding areas. After all, these could have been easily observed from the safety of the outpost's tall tower. But, to Samara's surprise, two humans were residing there, alongside the elves. These two were paladins of the Alliance who had decided to stay after the war against the Burning Legion. So even though the sentinels seemed to be treating them as guests, they were mostly ignored. From the senior sentinel's officer, the young woman had learnt that some humans were obsessed with elven women. So, they preferred to leave them to their own devices for safety reasons.

Then, they had learned from the same officer that at least one squad had gone missing over the last week. The missing sentinels had been tasked with the observation of the Zoram Strand. It was a long stretch of beach located at the western end of the sacred forest. Moss- and algae-covered fragments of the ancient buildings, potentially temples, emerged from the sand there. In-betweens of these remnants of the civilisation, the numerous bones of the sea creatures could have been found.

The revelations had deeply bothered Analylah. It had bothered her to such a degree that decision had been made immediately. The seasoned huntress had wanted to investigate the situation on her won. But unfortunately, it had also left Samar with no other option but to follow her mentor.

"These are called Naga," Moonblade informed her protégé once she crawled closer. "As far as we know, these `monsters` are descendent of our kin that had drowned during the Sundering. Still, how much truth is in that statement remains to be seen."

"How do you want to proceed then?" Tyrande's daughter allowed herself to ask in a low voice. "I can see at least a couple of these `Nagas` you've mentioned."

"There are more of them lurking in the shallow waters near the shore," the purple-haired huntress stated confidently. "Let's move to the ruins to the right," she spoke, pointing out the stone construct that grew yellowish over the years. "Once we are there, we will keep to the right. As you can see, there is a path marked with pillars nearby. It leads to the best-preserved structure here. It might be worth starting our investigation there."

"Ehhh," a heavy sigh escaped Samara's slightly parted lips. "Lead the way then, master."

Analylah did not reply. There was virtually no reason to prolong that conversation for the seasoned huntress. So instead, the violet-haired woman gracefully rose up, prowling forward whilst making no sound. Samara waited precisely 5 seconds before she did the same. However, it must have been noted that her attempt was not even half as smooth as her mentor.

Nevertheless, it was not the right moment to start an internal fight over that realisation. No, right now, it was high time for the young girl to follow the huntress. So, after a muffled sigh was allowed to manifest, the white-haired teen pushed forward. Within mere moments, they reached the first visible remnants of the ancient construction. A decently-high elevation gave them a proper cover whilst only marginally limiting their field of view. Moonblade was walking back and forth, looking around from the endings of the wall.

As soon as the younger woman arrived at their current hideout, she spotted a grimace of her mentor. At first, she wanted to ask what had caused it. However, the idea was scrapped instantly. It was not the best time for questioning.

"There are 4 `Nagas` at the beach behind this building," the seasoned huntress informed Samara in a hushed whisper. "I would have preferred to avoid a fight, but if it is not possible, let's deal with them swiftly. How `proficient` are you with the bow, Fyrerenna?"

"Point me a target, and I will take care of it," Samara replied once she managed to get past her cringe. "Master, can you please call me `Samara` just like the others do?"

"It is not time for that, Fyrerenna," the huntress replied with a low growl. "Back to the topic, then. I have spotted that 3 of these monsters have missing shells. Therefore, you will cause far more damage than usual if you can hit any of these. Thus, the last one of these must be shot first. The only open spot that will cause a severe wound or even straight-up kill is its gills."

After that, Analylah spent a couple of seconds describing their opponent's armour holes. As soon as their little `talk` was finished, the huntress pushed Samara to the right edge of the wall. Even though she did not utter a word more, the action's meaning was obvious. The younger elf was to take a look herself and map the vulnerabilities.

With no other option, Samara did as intended. These `Nagas` were disgusting abominations. However, whatever or whoever had created them had obviously planned its creation. Their skin was covered with rough shells that might have been provided better protection than some armours. The 4 creatures that her mentor had mentioned seemed to be of the same kind. Each of these was massive, muscular, bulky. From the oblong muzzle, some smile tentacles heng.

"I am ready," Tyrande's daughter informed the seasoned huntress. "Waiting for your mark, master."

"Fantastic, as it should be," Moonblade responded with a nod. "Kill the one without missing shells," the huntress ordered.

Analylah did not wait for a response of any sort. Instead, as swiftly and gracefully as a living thing could perform, she left their temporary hideout, drawing her curved bow instantly. The string sounded just a moment later, sending a deadly projectile forth. Of course, Samara would have wanted to observe the scene. However, there was a job for her to do as well. So, Samara rose her much shorter bow and aimed with little to no hesitation. Her own sting sounded the exact moment the huntress released the second arrow.

Their shots must have reached their targets. After all, nasty gulping sounds filled the air, indicating that someone's throat had been pierced. Samara allowed herself to investigate only after her next projectile was released. A quick glance over the ground, the monster stood gave her a good enough answer, at least for now.

The encounter was finished. The `Nagas` laid slain on the sand. The monsters' blood rapidly poured from the wounds, soaking into the ground. Thankfully, they had managed to get rid of these whilst making little to no sounds. Driven more by instinct, Samara pushed forward. She wanted to locate the source of the gulping. It was an unwise decision in more than one aspect. But, the young woman did not seem to notice that little detail. Before the seasoned huntress managed to pull her back toward reality, the white-haired woman had found what she was looking for. Her first arrow reached the `Naga`, but it pierced the delicate tissue at an undesirable angle. The projectile buried deep in the beast's left eye was the cause of its death.

"Ehh," the white-haired girl sighed in her mind. "I have failed. I should have aimed more carefully."

"What are you doing, Fyrerenna?!" Moonblade harshly asked, pulling her back into the nearest cover. "Let these rot. It is a far better situation for us than to be spotted. Moreover, we do not know their exact number nearby."

"Sorry, master," the white-haired girl mumbled. "I just wanted to check what caused that sound," she tried to explain herself, embarrassed. "I wanted to check whether I did well."

"Pfff," the huntress scoffed. "You could have waited. You did good, but it is not worth risking the whole thing to see it yourself. Let's go. We will address this later."

Tyrande's daughter spoke nothing. Instead, she pulled herself together, trailing closely after the violet-haired huntress. To say that the white-haired woman was embarrassed with the turns of events would have been a massive understatement. It was tragic that she knew what she was supposed to do and yet, failed to deliver. Nevertheless, she opted to do better. So, Samara cleaned her mind, erasing all the thoughts not related to the mission, and pressed on.

The unfortunate part of the section of their rendezvous mission was about to begin. With the pillars as the only source of cover, they would be exposed nearly all the time. And… considering that they had spotted more of these creatures lurking in the shallow waters, they would have to proceed extremely carefully. Moreover, the dawn was drawing near. Soon, the sun would have bathed the beach and the ruins with its intensive rays. Therefore, they needed to speed up. After all, night elves were not precisely the fans of the daytime.

Analylah must have thought the same as she took a blunder, passing two columns at a time. As a result, the gap between them and their current destination shrunk, with Samara closely behind her. It was just a matter of a few minutes, and they would have been in front of the entrance. But, unfortunately, it would have been too smooth for someone's liking. Once Samara had managed to get to the last pilar, the sounds of the splashing water could have been heard. Nearly instantly, both women turned around to face the shore. More than ten `Nagas` emerged from the shallow water, making their way toward the temple's entrance.

"We are running away from that!" the huntresses' voice sounded hoarse. "Run, Fyrerenna, run!" she uttered.

Even though she gave a precise order, the violet-haired woman did not follow it, at least instantly. Instead, her bow was quickly rose, settling a projectile onto the string. Then, the string sounded, marking the moment the arrow was released. Though Moonblade did not wait to see whether it reached its mark or not. It was meaningless, just like her shooting that one projectile. It seemed that some part of her youth remained inside.

Soon enough, the violet-haired huntress caught up to her protégé. The mission was a big, fat failure, and right now, there was only one goal for them, to get out of the area with the least damage possible. A quick glance backwards was sparred to see the situation's development. Frankly, it did not look good at all. Even though her arrow apparently killed or severely wounded one of the `Nagas`, the rest followed them restlessly. Moreover, to make the matter worse, these beasts were reinforced by some of the creatures they had avoided earlier.

Thankfully, the nearest slopes marking the end of the shore were just up ahead. Analylah doubted they would have been able to sprint to the nearest outpost. However, it should not have mattered. All they need to do is to get to the trees.

Then, a surge of magical energy could have been felt. The huntress wanted to turn around and see what was going on. However, before she had managed to do so, she got hit. A spell, most likely a frost bolt, scratched her right arm, freezing it nearly immediately.

"Come on, master!" the younger woman gasped whilst supporting the wounded huntress. "I know it hurts, but we need to speed up!"

It was a prominent call, but still, some pride flared inside the violet-haired woman.

"Drop your bow; it will not help us run away," Moonblade mumbled, gritting her teeth.

Then, in the shadows of the nearest trees, something moved.

"We are doomed," Samara thought instantly.

Nevertheless, forward was the only way out for them. So, regardless of her conflicted thoughts, she sped up as much as she could, running straight ahead.

Fyrerenna Whisperwind had never been happier in her life than once the sound of the familiar strings being pulled. Dozens of black-father arrows darkened her sight, progressing toward the `Nagas`.

"We are saved, then," Samara commented.