Chapter 17 - The Gilneas Brigade

Everyone was properly lined up on square ranks by the time Dalrus arrived at the barracks. Locating his brother, he began to sneak his way through the heavily armored people, saying 'excuse me, coming through, sorry' again and again until finally he reached Felrus. "What's up, bro?"

Felrus scowled at him. "Be quiet, Dalrus! Stand in position behind me and don't make a noise!" He hissed, never breaking his 'stand guard' position. Rolling his eyes, Dalrus did as he was told, then looked over everyone's heads, bored and curious about what was going on.

There were a few officers there, facing the army. Men and women with the prettiest and most expensive-looking armor, as well as an elf or two with pretty robes and shiny staffs. Eventually, Lady Jaina Proudmoore herself arrived, accompanied by a rather robust dwarf. He was holding a large axe on one hand, an even larger hammer on the other, and wore a horned helmet on his head. His blonde beard and mustache covered his face from the nose down entirely. His beard was adorned with skulls from what Dalrus assumed were orcs, and he wore some heavy mail armor with the blue colors of the Human Expedition.

Lady Jaine stood in front of the officers, cleared her throat, then spoke up: "Brave soldiers from Gilneas! After a long debate with your captain, we have finally decided where you shall be assigned to!"

"Wait, we're not staying here?" Dalrus asked Felrus, who hushed him.

"To the western coast of Kalimdor lay the Stonetalon Mountains." The beautiful young mage continued to speak. "There, we have received reports of orc movement. The clan Warsong, led by Grommash Hellscream, attacks our outposts, and we have heard reports of even more orc-filled ships arriving from the south. We fear that they may receive reinforcements, and so, we are sending you to help defend the passage to Stonetalon Peaks!"

Whispers ran along the soldier lines, mostly discussing the name of the orc chief, who apparently was a big deal. "Oi, Fel." Dalrus whispered, poking his brother on the back. "Who the heck is this Grommit fellow?" Once again, Felrus gave him a rash shush, then turned his attention back to the mage who was not yet done speaking. "Make yourselves ready! Me and my fellow surviving mages of the Kirin Tor shall use our magic to transport you to the outpost. It will take a few minutes to make our preparations, after which, you will leave immediately. Once you arrive, you will answer to one of the dwarven Mountain Kings, called..." Dalrus didn't pay attention to the Mountain King's name, for he was too busy trying to figure out what the heck was a Mountain King in the first place. Maybe it was some sort of giant dwarven invention? He pictured a stone giant with ridiculously stubby arms and legs and a beard made of magma trampling over the enemy lines... "...And that is all you need to know to ensure your survival out there. I wish you best of luck, heroes of the Expedition!" By the time he realized they had been dismissed, people were already moving around Dalrus like ants whose hill had just been kicked. "Oh, bugger! Wait, Fel!" He says, running after his brother.

It only took them a few minutes to gather their belongings, then assemble with the rest of the Brigade by the Keep's center. Dalrus wanted to say goodbye to Trisha before leaving, but there was simply no time. He saw her looking out of the balcony where they had lunch together just a few minutes ago, watching the soldiers march to their stations. He wondered if she noticed him amongst the ranks. Then he let out a somewhat sorrowful sigh and peered out over the Keep's stone walls towards the horizon where they would be moved to. The prospect of fighting orcs was a little exciting for him.

Of course he had heard of them, as had everyone. Dalrus imagined them as gigantic brutes that looked more like shaved gorillas with green skin and tusks jutting out of their mouths. He had heard they were bloodthirsty, brainless savages who enjoyed killing. But then there was that new warchief of theirs... Apparently that guy knew how to use his brain. Enough to sneak most of his people out of the camps they were being kept.

"Men! Form ranks of five by five!" The captain ordered. Dalrus ended up on the first squad along with his brother. They all marched forward in unison towards a huge glowing circle on the ground, Dalrus standing right on the center. Jaina was standing in front of the group, with three other mages standing in cardinal spots along the circle. "Alright, uhm... OK. You may want to close your eyes!" She said, her hands high in the air and glowing with energy. Dalrus saw a light-blue shell of magical energy surround the group, and felt the air grow heavy and charged with power. "Oh boy." He said, holding his bag close to his body. He could see his brother, who was just next to him, acting just as uncomfortable as Dalrus himself. "Uh... I'm not sure this is a good ide-" He began to say when suddenly the universe exploded.

There was a maelstrom of swirling light surrounding him. Entire worlds and universes flashed before his eyes too fast for his brain to register. His entire body throbbed and tingled, overtaken by that massive load of information and sensations. He did not know what was up or down, he did not know where he was, who he was, what he was, when he was. He began to lose himself amidst that maelstrom, his mind opening up to become one with the endless multiverse...

And then he fell flat-faced onto the dusty floor. Spitting dirt out of his mouth, he lifted his head to see an armored soldier offering him a helping hand to stand. Moaning in pain, he gladly took the hand and stood up, coughing and trying to get his bearings. "Easy there, son. The first time is always a trip." Said a metallic voice from above. Dalrus assumed whoever was aiding him was wearing a helmet, as was pretty much every single soldier in that entire place. He was set down by a wooden chair, and had to hold his head with his hands to help make the world stop spinning. "Crikey..." Was all he managed to say as his vision began to focus once more. He lifted his head and blinked a few times to clear his sight and take in where he was.

The new garrison looked a bit like the one he had just teleported out of... Except this one was mostly empty. The person who aided him had already left to help the others get up, dozens of Gilnean soldiers being teleported in through bright flashes of light and materializing in the air above a magic circle much like the one they had utilized back at the coast. Four mages were also helping keep the teleportation circle working, although these were all elves. In fact, as he looked around, Dalrus saw close to no humans there, aside from a few officers. Mostly they were comprised of dwarves and elves. Dalrus suspected his group would be the one to fill the human quota. People were still being ported in, most of them stumbling down and being aided in the same way as he was. Locating his brother, Dalrus managed to stand up and walk up to him amidst the chaos of the newly arriving people. "Hey... How you feeling?" He said, sitting next to Felrus, who was cross-legged on the floor with his eyes closed. "Don't... Talk... To me..." Was all he said, the armored lad looking very tense with his eyes closed. Fearing for the safety of his boots, Dalrus was quick to step back. Looking around, he saw their captain speaking to the very same heavily armored dwarf who had been by Jaina's side back at their garrison. He figured that was probably the so-called 'Mountain King'.

Now that he could take a better look at the place, the rogue realized the place wasn't quite a garrison or a keep, it was more like an encampment. Barracks and sentry towers showed clear signs of having been recently - and somewhat hastily - built. Also, rather than facing the sea to one side and an arid wasteland to the other, now they were surrounded by mountains. Tall, orange, dust-covered mountains. Dalrus could see that to their north there was a passage leading through the mountains, and also, two more camps within sight; one to their direct south, the other to the northwest. "Huh. Guess they really don't want the orcs to move through here." He said, scratching his head. Both camps were barely dots in the distance, and appeared to be about half a day's march away from where they stood.

"Men! Attention! Take your places, form ranks!" The Gilnean captain was speaking. Slowly, the soldiers - who had finally finished being ported in - began to gather in ranks at the center of the encampment. It took a few minutes - after all, everyone was still dealing with the aftereffects of that magical trip - but eventually, order was restored. It was then that the captain stood in front of everyone and said: "Listen up! Henceforth, the Gilneas Brigade shall play its role in this conflict! Command of our unit will be surrendered to the dwarven thane..." Once again, Dalrus began to doze off amidst the speech, mishearing their new commander's name yet again. He would only think of him as the 'Mountain King' anyway.

He had assumed they would be on their own out here, but having an assortment of elven mages and dwarven engineers would be a most welcome aid. He wondered why there was no sign of the gnomes, though. Introductions went on for a good half of an hour - a few inspiring speeches about how it was Gilneas' turn to do their part, how they should not fail their new allies, to forge the bonds of trust, yadda yadda blood thirsty evil orcs and demons falling from the sky. Just when he was seriously considering vanishing from sight and looking for someplace to nap, the soldiers all let out a cheerful shout and began to break off, heading to various directions. "About bloody time." Dalrus said, stretching his arms and letting out a long yawn. "So, this is gonna be our new home, eh Fel?"

His brother looked rather stern. His hand was clutching the armored shoulder where the worgen bite mark was. "Hmmm... Yeah." He distractedly said, throwing his bag over the other shoulder and moving towards the barracks.

Blinking in confusion, Dalrus felt concern rise within him. He had assumed the priest's medicine had done a fine enough job already to take care of his brother's shoulder, but lately, Felrus looked more and more bothered by it. "Oi, you alright? Is something wrong with your shoulder?" He said, rushing to Felrus' side.

Felrus refused to look his brother in the eye, instead looking to the side where the soldiers were already starting to march towards the barracks to drop their belongings. "I'm fine, Dalrus. The scar throbs sometimes... But the medicine usually holds that sensation back. It's not gonna be a problem while I'm fighting, I promise."

"Who said anything about fighting!? You should get that thing checked!" Dalrus shook his head and sighed. "Maybe one of those elves has an idea of how to treat this? How bad is it, anyway? I haven't taken a look at it since we left home."

His brother made a very awkward expression. "You sure you want to look?"

Dalrus reciprocated the look. "Yikes. Is it that bad?"

Felrus hesitated. "Eh... It's..." Looking around first to make sure no one was looking, he leaned in closer and whispered in a hushed tone. "It's got hair growing around it and it's really odd, OK? It's like the wound is sprouting fur around it."

Both of Dalrus' brows raised high on his forehead in surprise. "Bloody hell, mate. Don't tell me you're turning into one of those things."

"Yeah, very funny." His brother grunted, once again hurling his sack over his back and resuming their march towards their new barracks.

The duo had only made it a few paces forward before suddenly a voice behind them said: "Hold it."

Felrus immediately turned around and got in a saluting position, whereas Dalrus only bothered looking over his shoulder and saying: "Eh?"

The one speaking to them was an elf. A lady elf, at that. She wore a tight green outfit with swirling details along the fabric that looked like they were woven out of pure gold. Her hair was long and dark, falling over her shoulders, and she wore a long cowl over her head, although the cowl sported a pair of holes on the sides, from which her long ears were sticking out, making Dalrus wonder what the point of wearing that in the first place was, and if she went through the careful trouble of sliding her ears in and out of those holes each time she removed and put the cowl back on. Not only that, but her eyebrows were slightly pushed down by the sides of the cowl, which looked really awkward. 'Am I the only one who sees this?' He thought to himself. 'It looks so bloody inconspicuous! I mean, seriously, imagine if I had a mustache like that, then tried to put a cowl on, and my mustache just sticked out of the sides. Bloody hell.' On her thin waist, she wore a leather belt with a pair of short swords attached to it, as well as a bow and quiver strapped across her back.

"You." She said, pointing at Dalrus. "Soldier. Why aren't you wearing your armor? This isn't a playground. We could be attacked any moment!"

'I don't see you wearing anything too heavy either, lady.' Was what he thought, but what the young rogue said was: "I'm already wearing my armor, lady. This is thick, good Gilnean leather." He proudly declared, patting his black shirt as he stuffed his chest out. "Besides, I'm not a front-line fighter. I'm more of the sneak-around and stab-them-in-the-back kind of fellow, eh?"

The elven woman scoffed and Dalrus instantly disliked her more, watching her thin pink lips twist into a smirk of disdain. "A child like you, an assassin? I was told not to expect much of the Gilnean Brigade, but this is already insulting." She shook her head. "This isn't a game, boy. We don't have time to deal with children wanting to play war. What kind of fool would let you join the army anyway?" She looked around, as if searching for a parent to blame for their child's misbehavior.

Dalrus blinked, trying to fully take in all the insults the elven snob threw his way. "Oy..." He began to say, already taking a step towards her when he felt his brother's hand pressing against his chest. "My lady, with all due respect..." He was saying, trying to hold Dalrus back. "My brother here is a prodigy in the fine arts of subtlety. Despite his young age, I assure you that he is more than capable to serve in our army and do his part in this war. If you were to take a look at his skills, I am certain that you would be surprised."

Despite the fact her eyes were a glowing green devoid of any other details, Dalrus could see the disdain behind them. "Oh, really? I suppose you expect me to believe this... Infant, even by your own human standards, has the skill to infiltrate an orc encampment, assassinate their leaders, steal important documents and make it back here without stepping over his trousers along the way?"

'Bitch, I'm gonna...!' Dalrus opened his mouth to speak, but once again his brother cut in. "Please, my lady. I understand why you would be suspicious the way he is now, but once again, I assure you, if you were to give him a chance, you would be very much impressed by his capacity."

They both watched the elf put a hand on her hip and the other on her forehead as she lowered her head and sighed. "I don't have time to babysit-"

"Captain Lyfara, I presume!" Suddenly the voice of the Gilnean captain called out from their right. The group looked in that direction and saw him approaching them with the dwarven Mountain King by his side. "Pleased to meet you. I am captain Victor Bellsford. I understand you are the leader of our intelligence and espionage squad?"

"That is correct, captain." The elf said, turning to face them and completely ignoring the Plaguefang brothers. "I was hoping that perhaps you could have brought some new members to join our team, as we are sorely lacking in numbers. Sad to say, I was disappointed."

"Ah, yes... I am afraid Lord Silvius could not join our expedition." The captain said with a curt nod, stopping a few paces from her. "Tis' a shame, but he was gravely wounded during the battle back in our city. I had heard his apprentice was amongst our ranks, however. A spry young lad by the name of Dalrus Plaguefang. I was a bit hesitant to let him in at first, but as Lord Silvius himself oversaw his training from a very young age, I conceded an exception."

"Silvius Moonbite?" Dalrus half expected the elf's ears to perk up like an excited dog's upon hearing that. He was very disappointed when they didn't. "I had heard of his skill. His abilities were of great use during the previous war, even while the rest of his nation didn't do much more." He saw the woman stroke her chin pensively. "I wasn't aware he was training an apprentice. Might be interesting. Where may I find this 'Dalrus'? I'd like to see his skills for myself."

This time, Dalrus was the one to cover his brother's mouth as he arrogantly stepped forward, pushed out his cockiest, widest shit-eating grin and cleared his throat loud enough to draw the attention of five other people who were walking around them. "Hiding in plain sight, as your beautiful glowing eyes couldn't see until now, my lady." He said in a venomously polite tone, then took what was possibly the most exaggerated and disrespectful bow of his life.

"Ah, there you were! Good, good!" Seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere between Dalrus and the elf, captain Bellsford walked in between them both and pulled Dalrus closer. "Lady Lyfara, this is Dalrus. I am certain you will find his skills most useful to your group."

The expression on her face was absolutely glorious. "You cannot be serious. You can't mean to allow this... Child to-"

"Me lord! A moment of yer' time!" They saw a dwarf carrying a pile of scrolls and papers on his arms rushing at them. "We need ta' gloss over the newest information gathered, bring yer people up ta speed, yes?"

"Right he is, aye." The Mountain King spoke for the first time with a nod. His voice sounded very generic amongst the dwarves. "Lyfara, I'll leave the lad to ya. He's under yer command now. We will be busy getting the soldiers ready fer battle. We are all part of this 'Gilnean Brigade' now, eh? Better be nice ta' each other!" And with that, the heavily armored dwarf gave them all a curt nod and left with his kin and the captain to discuss who knew what. Dalrus had the most condescending smile on his face as he looked up at the frustrated elf. "Welp, you heard the Mountain King! Let's get along swimmingly, eh?" Felrus simply palmed his face and shook his head.

Lyfara took in a deep breath, then shook her head and glared down at him. She then muttered something in some strange gibberish Dalrus had no idea what it meant, then turned around and began moving in the opposite direction. "And that's my cue! See you later, Fel!" Dalrus happily said, picking his own bag up and following her among the crowds of moving people.

The woman never even looked back as she walked. Dalrus could see she stepped lightly on the dirty ground, barely producing a sound with her boots. Not that he would hear her steps among the noise of all the soldiers moving about anyway. She made her way towards the edges of the camp, and Dalrus followed her closely behind. Eventually, they made it to a small, dusty tent. The woman made her way inside through the front, so Dalrus went in right after her.

It wasn't very large, not even half the size of the barracks the soldiers enjoyed. A row of poles in the center helped hold the tent up, while spikes on the outside held the edges down. Fortunately, they were right besides the tall mountains, so there wasn't any wind blowing even more dust in. A pair of tables were placed in between the pillars, covered with scrolls, maps and other parchments, which Dalrus assumed contained valuable information. Along the wall and hanging between even more support pillars were beds and sleeping nets, one of which was occupied by another elf - this time a male - clad in black clothes similar to Dalrus but, of course, adorned with golden details like Lyfara. Dalrus pondered if those people cared more about whether they looked good rather than if they were wearing armor that was actually functional. As they entered, the elf opened his eyes and lifted his head at them. His hair was blonde and combed back over his head, his jaw large and square with a short beard along it. "Lyfara, there's a child following you." He said, to which Dalrus simply rolled his eyes. She looked back and almost looked surprised to see Dalrus standing behind her with his bag over his shoulder and his other hand on his pocket, which he proceeded to lift up and wave at her as he said: "Yo."

"What do you think you're doing here?" She hissed, walking up to him and bending down slightly as she looked down at the youth. Unimpressed, he simply shrugged and said: "Well, since I'm gonna be working under you, I figured the best place to do that was… You know, wherever you went."

As she had done a few times before, the woman held her forehead and took in a deep breath. "I don't care what kind of game you and that captain of yours think you're playing, but this is not a place for children. I cannot afford to watch over a youngling while we carry out the most vital and dangerous missions in this garrison. The commander says we should mingle with humans, fine. But I will not accept that they get in the way of our work."

He withheld a rather bored look during her little speech. After she was done, he calmly dropped his bag to the ground, knelt beside it, opened it up, pulled out an apple from within and took a bite out of it. "Yeah, that's a nice speech, lady. Though, if I didn't know better, I would think you're trying to insult me when you call me a child." He said through a mouthful of apple as he stared dead into her glowing green eyes. "I mean, it's almost as if you think I'm incapable. Imagine that."

He heard a little chuckle come from the elf on the net, and saw Lyafra's eyebrow twitch lightly. "You keep pushing my patience, and I'll strap you to a boulder and use you as ammunition against the orcs!"

"Hey, I'm not pushing anything. This is starting to get old already." He took another bite out of his apple and began to idly toss it up and down over his hand. "All you do is call me an infant and say I'm incapable. But all you got based on to judge me are looks. You haven't even seen what I can do yet. I'm starting to think you're prejudiced."

She had already opened her mouth to answer when some rustling came from behind him. Looking back, Dalrus saw a trio of people walking in; a rugged old human man draped in dark clothes and a long scarf around his neck and a pair of elves wearing dark masks that covered their faces. Dalrus began to suspect all elves enjoyed wearing gold as if they believed it was a practical thing to wear in battle, as he watched those same details and patterns the other two wore on their armor. "Back from recon, captain." The human said, loosening his scarf a bit so his mouth was free. He was about as old as Dalrus' father, if not older, if the few patches of grey hair on his head and beard were any indication. He also sported some wrinkles on his forehead, and his eyes had a certain weight behind them.

Immediately, Lyafra stood up and turned to face them, once again ignoring Dalrus. "Report."

Taking one glance at Dalrus, the man cleared his throat and began speaking: "Orc activity has increased. They have a base to the southwest. A few days' trip down the road, there was a massive landslide. It looked like the centaurs were preparing for something, but the landslide put a halt to their plans. On top of that, we sighted a caravan of orcs and the native tauren moving up towards the north in this direction. We suspect they will join up with the Warsong in a couple days."

"Damn." She turned around and moved towards the table. Following her, Dalrus saw there was a map of the south western coast of Kalimdor crudely drawn there. "If they made it past Thunderbluff, it might be their new Warchief. We must prepare our defenses."

"Lucky us the Gilneans just arrived, then." And finally, the man looked directly at Dalrus, who was still chewing on his apple. He nodded towards the man and raised his fruit in salute. "I take it this is a newcomer, then?" He inquired, facing Lyfara once more.

Dalrus saw the woman squeeze the edges of the table, then sigh deeply. "This... Is the apprentice of Silvius Moonbite. The Gilnean captain, as well as the dwarven thane, insisted that we make use of him." She said between her teeth.

Dalrus saw the three other elves share glances between each other, and the man lifted a brow in interest. "You don't say? I didn't know the old Silver Fang had taken on an apprentice." The man then proceeded to remove his thick black glove and extend his hand towards Dalrus, which he noticed was missing a pinky. "Hanton Crossford. I have worked with your master before. Shame he couldn't be here himself."

Taking the offered hand, Dalrus shook it vigorously. "Dalrus Plaguefang. Actually, he's also my uncle. On the mother's side. Sadly, he had a little run-in with fanatic cultists and dark rituals, so he was a tad indisposed to join. But worry not, I'm here to fill his place."

Hanton let out a little chuckle at that. "Aye, well, good to see you're not lacking in confidence." Then they both turned to look as the elves began to hurriedly chat amongst themselves in that strange gibberish language Dalrus heard the captain mutter to herself earlier. "Huh. She's not too thrilled to have you here." Hanton said, arching his brows.

"You don't say? But she was being so nice to me up until now!" Dalrus commented, taking yet another bite of his apple.

It looked as if the male elf was making some kind of point. The other two masked elves - whom Dalrus noticed were both females from that certain volume on their chest - were glancing at his direction, then saying some things of their own. Finally, the captain raised her hands, said one last bit that Dalrus had no idea what it meant, and turned to face him. "Very well, then. Against my better judgement, and sorely due to the fact we are very short-handed on personnel, I shall give you a task to see if you really are what you claim to be."

"Goodness gracious, Lady Leafer, that is so generous of you! How may I repay such an act of kindness?" Dalrus said, letting out an exaggerated sigh as he fanned himself with his hand.

He saw a flicker. Suddenly, Dalrus was snapping back his head and raising his hand to grab the wrist that had just reached out for his neck. Almost too late he realized he had dropped his apple, so he had to whip out his dagger and stab it two inches above the floor. Then, looking up at the masked elven lady who had just attempted to choke him, he brought the dagger up to his face and took another bite from his apple. "Is this some kind of elf greeting? Because I'm not sure I'm into that." He said, lifting his leg to deflect the other hand that had just attempted to lunge for his gut. Using his knee, he blocked the blow, then threw the apple up in the air and shadowstepped behind the elf.

Dalrus used his weight to push her down on her chest against the floor, with her arm twisted behind her back. He sat on top of her to pin her down, then caught the apple with his free hand. "But, who knows, maybe I could get used to this." He said, flashing the captain a grin.

He saw Hanton lift his brows and hold back a small impressed smile; then the male elf stroked his chin as he sat up straight on his net and eyed Dalrus up and down full of interest. The other masked elf was reaching for her belt and stepping forward when suddenly Lyfara said: "Stop! Tysse, stand back. You, get off of her. Fynna, come here."

Shrugging, Dalrus stood up and offered the fallen elf a helping hand to stand, which she promptly refused. Massaging her wrist, she walked back besides captain Lyfara. "Well. It would seem you're not all talk at the very least. And it really is true that you're Silvius' apprentice... I'd recognize that technique you just used anywhere." She barked out some orders to the elves in their language once more. They both bowed and stepped back, creepily standing side by side. Now that he was taking a closer look at them, Dalrus saw that they were almost exactly identical in body shape and height, even in hair style. They had ponytails tied back behind their heads, the only difference being one elf had deep blue hair while the other was a redhead.

Lyfara turned to face Dalrus. "Fynna and Tysse are both quite... Zealous of me. I see your childish insults as nothing more than noise, but they might not accept the disrespect the way I do. So long as you're capable of obeying orders and performing the tasks that are given to you, I'm willing to overlook some of your disrespect. Understood?"

"Yeah, whatever you say, captain, sir." Dalrus finished eating his apple and hoisted his dagger back on his belt. "So, you were saying something about an assignment?"

Lyfara's eyes were cold as ice as she peered down at him. "Yes... I believe Thano will be able to better describe it than me, however."

Upon hearing his name, the male elf on the net hopped down from his spot and spinned his arms a few times to stretch them. "Yes, just yesterday I was scouting the mountains when I spotted a harpy's nest forming up. They might bring trouble to us in the long run, so I thought it best we eliminate this evil before it takes root."

"The dwarves were given the task of making explosives, which we will plant on the harpy's nests and rid ourselves of them now before they can grow in numbers." Lyfara then scowled at Dalrus. "Thano was supposed to be aided by the sisters, but I have more important tasks for them. Therefore, it falls to you to be his support. You will answer to him, do all he says, and most importantly, not get in his way. Understood?"

Dalrus put his hands on his hips and nodded. "Sounds simple enough. Heck, I could probably even go and do it by myself!"

He saw Thano smirk in amusement as Lyfara simply lifted a brow at him. "Of course you can. But unfortunately, we need an eye witness in case you slip down and fall to your untimely death. So you're accompanying him. Now, I have important matters to discuss with our commanders." And with that, she proceeded to storm out of the tent, the two elven girls - whom Dalrus presumed were the aforementioned sisters - following her closely like bodyguards.

"Welp, that's one hell of a welcome!" Dalrus said, clapping his hands once and looking around. "So, is this the whole group?"

"Not quite." Hanton said. "Besides myself, the captain, Thano and the two sisters, we also have Hilda - she's a human as well - and Darthardt, a dwarf. They are currently out on a mission of their own, spying on the Warsong orcs to the south. They should be back on the morrow, however."

"Lovely." Dalrus said, then noticed Thano was squatting down next to him, a hand on his chin as he looked at the youth up and down like he was an exposit at the museum. "Uh... Like what you see, mate?"

Thano simply smirked and stood up straight. He was exceptionally tall, even by elven standards. "Just wanted to take a closer look at you, is all." His voice was a little shrilled, and somewhat pitched. It was interesting to listen to. "Don't be too upset at my cousin for her harsh words. She's a little on edge because we lost quite a few people lately. So when we heard we would be joining a new group with massive reinforcements, she had hopes we would be refilling our numbers. Me, I personally say quality over quantity. But you can imagine how disappointed she must have been to see our only new asset was a human youngling. How old are you, by the way? In human standards, that is."

"Ah, so you're related." Dalrus scratched his head a bit. "Eh, I can't say I blame her. But she doesn't need to act so stuck-up all the time. I don't really appreciate being looked down upon. Also, if you must know... I sort of lost count. I think I was somewhere around seventeen?" He lied, trying not to sound like his young fourteens.

"Give it time, lad." Hanton patted his shoulder. "If you show her what you're made of, she'll have no reason to complain, as long as you bring her results. I was barely a boy fresh out of his spring when I tasted the battlefield for the first time myself, so I think you'll be fine. Anyway, you must be tired from the long trip. Feel free to pick any net or bed for yourself, we follow a policy of 'first come, first served'."

"The dwarves told me the explosives wouldn't be ready until tomorrow." Thano chimed in. "So I recommend you get plenty of rest and get your climbing gear, because we are going on a long hike!"

"Dandy!" Dalrus took in a deep breath, taking in the whole atmosphere of the place. His first true task as a rogue was about to begin! "Just one question before we go."

"Shoot away." Thano said, getting back on his net.

"What the bloody hell is a harpy?"