Chapter Two – Meeting The Group
Vissia and Velsana came to the building they were looking for. Unlike most houses and buildings in the village, the forge was not made out of wood. Wood would be suboptimal if a mishap would happen and something would be set on fire. The probability of the whole building burning to the ground was too high, so the building was made out of white stones. The roof was covered by purple tiles like most roofs in any night elf village.
The couple didn't hesitate to enter the forge where they were welcomed by the owner. It was a tall male night elf with short silver hair and a strange-looking moustache. He was as tall as Velsana but more muscular. He was a male and a blacksmith, so he didn't need to do much to become muscular. He just worked every day for at least twelve hours and ate properly. He didn't need to train every day to remain muscular.
Velsana, on the other hand, had to train every day to keep her body in shape. Not many female night elves were as muscular as her. There were lots of females with well-trained bodies and they trained regularly to keep their bodies in shape but none of the other females Velsana knew trained as often as her.
The warrior shook hands with the owner as soon as she approached him. "Hello, Jenan. How is my favourite man doing?"
Jenan smirked. "I'm fine and you?"
"I can't complain. My little butterfly always makes me feel really good, so I have no reason to feel bad," Velsana responded. She wrapped her arm around her girlfriend's neck and pulled her closer, pressing a quick kiss on her forehead.
"And you?" Jenan asked Vissia.
She hesitated for a short moment. "As good as can be expected under the circumstances."
He raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"
Vissia shook her head slightly. "Nothing, really. I'm just worried."
"Worried? About what?"
"About the mission, we are taking part in."
Jenan made a gesture. "Tell me more."
"We are going to Azsuna and taking care of a demon commander," responded Velsana.
"A demon commander in Azsuna? I hope you are not going to Faronaar. This place is dangerous. I've heard that there are thousands of demons out there."
"Our task is not to kill every demon, even though I would love to do that. Our task is to eliminate their commander. We are not alone, there are others who are going with us," explained the warrior.
The blacksmith nodded at her. "I wish you good luck."
"Thank you, Jenan."
"When are you going?"
"Today. That's why I'm here to pick up my weapons."
"Alright, I won't disturb you any longer then."
"You are not disturbing us, my friend," responded the warrior as she walked towards the door at the other side of the room.
"Shall I come with you?" the blacksmith asked.
"No, I know where I left them."
"And I?" asked the rogue.
Velsana smiled at her girlfriend. "You can stay here in the meantime. I won't need long." The warrior received a nod from Vissia. She gave the rogue a smile before she opened the door and stepped through it, following the bordering corridor.
Vissia regarded the surroundings in the meantime. She was in the middle of the room, right in front of her was the counter behind which Jenan was standing. Several weapons of different size and shape hung on the wall behind Jenan. There were large two-handed swords, large one-handed swords, small and large axes, spears and many other weapons. They only served as decoration but Vissia was sure they were very sharp and deadly.
She had never seen weapons from another blacksmith with a similar high quality as these weapons. Velsana hadn't exaggerated when she told her that Jenan made the best weapons she had ever seen. His weapons competed with those made by dwarves. Dwarves were known as the best blacksmiths on Azeroth. They were by far better than blacksmiths of any other race. Nevertheless, Jenan was almost as good as them. Vissia didn't know his secret and she was sure Velsana didn't know it either.
Her gaze rested on these weapons for a while before it shifted to the owner of the forge who still stood behind the counter and waited for costumers. Her gaze fell on Velsana as soon as she entered the room. Her two massive battle-axes rested on her back. Vissia always wondered how she could carry them on her back and even fight with them. They were very tall and very heavy. Their heads were much taller than the heads of most axes Vissia had ever seen. The axes were not double bladed but there were massive spikes on the other side. They would do serious harm to anyone who would get hit by them, Vissia was sure of that.
The axes' handles were blue, the blades were made out of the best steel on Azeroth and small glowing runes had been engraved in them. These runes allowed the weapons to absorb a certain amount of magic, so she could use it to block some weaker spells. Vissia was not sure if it would help against fel magic, she could only hope they did.
Velsana walked over to Vissia, her lips formed a satisfied smile. She pressed a kiss on her cheek and put a hand on her hip, caressing it softly for a few moments. "I'm ready, darling."
"So am I, my love."
Velsana turned her head, waving at Jenan. "Goodbye, Jenan."
He waved back at her. "Take care of yourselves and return alive and in one piece."
"I will do everything to protect my little butterfly," replied Velsana and pressed her lips against the rogue's temples.
"Kill as many of these bastards as you can."
"We will," responded Vissia. "But the commander is more important than the soldiers. We will focus on them."
"Stay safe."
The couple nodded at him and said goodbye, leaving the forge a few moments later. Velsana had her arm wrapped around Vissia's shoulder, Vissia's arm was wrapped around her girlfriend's waist as they walked. They followed the course of the street to the tavern near the market. They greeted a few citizens they knew but they didn't stop to have small talk with them as they usually did. They didn't have the time for that because they had to meet up with the other members of their group. They had to seek out a friend of Vissia who would make them a portal to Azsuna.
They came to the tavern and entered it without hesitation. Their eyes wandered through the room and shifted from costumer to costumer until they found the person they were looking for. They spotted the mage sitting alone at a table on the other side of the room. Her skin had a similar purple colour as Vissia's skin, her hair was dyed blonde and her eyes had a light-bluish colour.
The couple didn't hesitate to walk over to her. The mage stood up as soon as she spotted her friend. She hugged Vissia once Velsana had let her go, then she shook the warrior's hand.
"How you are doing, Vis?"
"I'm fine, Sanlara. Thanks for asking."
"You sure you want to attend that mission, it's pretty dangerous."
"I completed many dangerous missions in the past," responded the assassin.
"I know that. You told me about several of your missions. But I think this one will be more dangerous."
"That wouldn't stop me. We have to defeat the Burning Legion and I will defend our home by every means. I won't just stay in mine and Velsana's house and hide there while others fight for our world."
"I get that, my dear. But you can also choose a mission that's not as dangerous as this one. You could lose your life if things go wrong."
"I can also lose my life in close combat if I made a wrong move. No matter what we do to protect our world, we always risk our lives," responded the rogue.
Velsana gave the mage a small smile. "I already tried to talk her out of this but she insisted to go there. She doesn't want to be a coward."
"She wouldn't be a coward if she would choose a different mission."
"You are right about that but the Illidari are looking for volunteers who would go on that mission. We have nothing to do at the moment and most of the warriors of the Alliance are busy elsewhere. We decided to help where we can and this mission has a very high priority."
"I see," responded Sanlara. "Take care of her."
"Don't worry. There is nothing that is more important to me than her safety."
Vissia cleared her throat.
"Okay, victory is more important. We already talked about many possible scenarios and we came to the conclusion that we wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice our lives for the greater good. It pains me to imagine losing her but we have to defend Azeroth by any means. The Burning Legion would do unspeakable things to us, kill or enslave us if they would win and conquer Azeroth. They would do this to every creature on Azeroth, so we have to stop them by every means."
Sanlara gave her an agreeing nod. "I will come with you if you don't mind."
"Right now?"
"Yeah, why not?"
Vissia raised an eyebrow. "Don't you want to tell my brother you're leaving first?"
"He travelled to Stormwind City yesterday."
Vissia's face reflected surprise. "He did?"
The mage nodded.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"He didn't have the time. He received a message that he should come to Stormwind City immediately."
"What do they want from him?"
Sanlara shrugged. "I have no idea. I assume they will send him to a certain place where he has to take care of the wounded."
"As long as he stays away from any battle, I don't have to worry about him."
Sanlara gave her a small smile. "He can take care of himself. He will be fine."
"Yes, he will."
"Do you know the details of the plan already?"
Velsana shook her head. "No, we just know that we have to kill the commander in Faronaar. The leader of the group, whoever it is, will tell us everything we have to know."
"Alright, I will make a portal then. It will take some time so you can eat something if you want."
"We already at. Especially Vissia ate enough for now. She is totally satisfied," responded Velsana and winked. Vissia didn't comment about that, she just looked at her best friend who regarded them curiously. Vissia was glad that she didn't get the reference.
"Then talk, cuddle or do something else while I focus my power to create a portal. You just have to tell me where I should create it. I have visited the most important places in Azsuna, so I can bring you to many of our bases and outposts."
"Bring us to Illidari Stand. The rest of the group will wait for us there."
"Alright. I will create the portal outside of the tavern."
Velsana nodded. "Take your time. We have to get there in two hours."
"Two hours? That shouldn't be a problem. I assume I will need about an hour."
"Take your time, my dear," said Vissia.
Sanlara nodded and left the tavern quickly. The couple took a seat on the table and ordered something to drink. Vissia got water while her girlfriend had chosen orange juice. They held hands while they talked, emptying their glasses in the meantime.
An hour had passed as they spotted Sanlara at the nearest window. The mage waved at them and signalized them to come. They nodded to her, left a few coins on the table and walked out of the tavern as fast as possible. Sanlara stood next to a portal which was large enough that even Velsana could fit through it without having to duck.
"Are you ready?" the mage asked.
Velsana put her arm around Vissia's shoulders. "We are."
The blonde woman pointed at the portal. "After you."
The couple didn't hesitate to walk through the portal. They checked their surroundings as soon as they had arrived at their destination.
Illidari Stand.
The area around them was not beautiful at all. It had once been beautiful but it had changed, mostly because of the actions of the Burning Legion. The ground was very hard and barely covered by grass which had once been green but was now brown, almost orange. Except for a few lonely trees, which didn't look very healthy, there was no vegetation at all.
The base, if it could be called like that, consisted of a few separated tents where a few persons were standing. Most of them were demon hunters who were given tasks to single soldiers or smaller groups. There was a pond with dirty water in the middle of the base. There were also remains of buildings, damaged statues and a damaged temple scattered all over the base.
"This place looks so sad. I remember how it has looked like before the Legion ruined it," said Sanlara as she stepped next to the couple.
"Just wait until you see Faronaar. This place is much sadder and full of filthy demons," responded Velsana.
"Not for long, I hope," said Vissia.
"The Legion forces there will be significantly weakened if we manage to kill their commander."
"Let's hope for the best," said Sanlara.
"Hope alone won't help us. We have to give our best and work together with the other group members to achieve our goal."
"I know. Speaking about our group, where are we meeting them? Do you know our contact person? How they look like and to which race they belong?"
Velsana pulled a scroll out of her backpack and unfolded it, reading through it quickly. "We have to find a demon hunter with the name Cenon."
"There are many demon hunters around us," mentioned Vissia.
"Seems we have to ask them one by one if they are Cenon or if they know where he is."
"Alright, let's go then," announced Sanlara and walked towards the nearest demon hunter. Vissia took Velsana's hand and followed her brother's girlfriend. They came to a female demon hunter who was half a head smaller than Velsana but still taller than Vissia. Her green glowing eyes could be seen through her blindfold. As a demon hunter, she was blind but she had a spectral sight, so she was still able to see in some way.
Demon Hunters were still able to recognize other creatures. They saw their auras, so they could still fight the demons which auras were much clearer to them than the auras of creatures of other races. They were specialised at killing demons because they had learned a lot about them and learned how to use fel magic. Demon hunters were mostly shunned by the societies. Most night elves didn't like them and stayed away from them if possible.
Velsana and Vissia were different. They had nothing against them, they even tolerate them because they helped to fight against the Burning Legion. Velsana's brother was a demon hunter. He was one of the first who had been trained by the most (in)famous demon hunter. She loved her brother and that hadn't changed when he joined the Illidan Stormrage who was still considered as a traitor by most night elves.
Velsana may love her brother and tolerate most demon hunters but she had mixed feelings about Illidan Stormrage. He had killed many night elves to gain power. He may have done that to be strong enough to fight the demons who had invaded Azeroth for the first time over ten thousand years ago. He may have done it in good faith, but it was still wrong to kill his brothers and sisters. He had sworn to destroy the Burning Legion and since his rebirth, he killed as many demons as he could. He was still fighting for Azeroth but Velsana couldn't forget what he had done.
She had been a little girl when the Legion had invaded Azeroth for the first time. She had not been there, had not encountered any demons and had not seen what had happened but she had heard enough of it when she had gotten older. She had heard of Illidan's actions. She didn't like him but she no longer regarded him as a traitor. He was still risking his life and the lives of his Illidari for the greater good. She had to credit that to him. He would sacrifice everything for defeating the Burning Legion. Even his own life. And Velsana would do the same. The Legion had to be stopped by any means.
The demon hunter wore a pair of blue iron trousers which were decorated by a silver stripe which was wrapped around her leg like a snake. The armour that covered her upper body had a light red colour. Her brown tattoos above her chest could be seen and large horns came out of her forehead.
"How can I help you?" asked the demon hunter once she noticed the presence of the three other night elves.
"We are looking for a demon hunter with the name Cenon," responded Velsana.
"Cenon Nightstar?"
"I think so. Only his first name was given in the scroll I received."
The demon hunter turned around and pointed at the ruins of the temple at the other side of the base. "He is over there."
"Thank you for helping us."
"No problem. I help whenever I can."
"Death to all demons," replied Velsana.
"Glory for Lord Illidan," responded the demon hunter.
Velsana didn't say anything in return. She gave the demon hunter a small nod and walked towards the temple with her companions. The first person they spotted there was not a demon hunter and not even a night elf or blood elf. It was a female draenei with blue skin and horns which were bent like the horns of a billy goat.
She was as tall as Velsana and wore a magnificent golden and white armour which looked pretty massive. A sword hung on her belt and a large golden shield stood next to the column against which she was leaning. She had pink hair and a cheeky expression on her face as she looked at the newcomers.
"How can I help you?" she asked with a ringing voice.
"We are looking for a demon hunter called Cenon Nightstar," said the warrior.
"Why are you looking for him?"
"We heard he is looking for volunteers who would join him on this dangerous mission."
"And you want to join him." The draenei's response sounded more like a statement than a question.
"Yes, we want to do that."
The draenei smiled. "That's good. We'll take any capable fighter we can get. I hope you have enough combat experience, especially when it comes to demons."
"Don't worry about that," said Sanlara. She pointed at the warrior and then at herself. "Velsana and I are thousands of years old and collected enough experience."
The draenei's eyes fell on the warrior. "You are Velsana. That's a nice name."
"Thank you."
"I'm Gori." Her gaze fell on Vissia. "And you?"
"Vissia Leafdancer."
"You are a rogue, aren't you?"
"I am."
"And a very beautiful one, I see."
Vissia blushed. "Thank you."
"I have never seen such a cute night elf before."
Vissia's blush became wider but she didn't say anything in return. Velsana wrapped an arm around her lover's shoulders and frowned. "We didn't come here to exchange compliments. We want to destroy the Burning Legion. We want to weaken their forces on Faronaar by killing the commander there.
Gori chuckled. "You are right. I just want to know your friend's name before I bring you to Cenon and the others."
"My name is Sanlara. I am a mage."
"A mage can be pretty useful."
"I know. That's the reason why I decided to join them. I want them to return home. My husband will be devastated when I tell him that his sister was killed in battle against the Burning Legion. I have to make sure they return in one piece."
"Alright. Follow me," responded Gori and started to move. The group followed the paladin who brought them inside the temple ruin. There was a table in the middle of the former entrance hall at which a few creatures were sitting. There was a muscular male night elf with long and thick horns on his head. He had green glowing facial tattoos which looked like runic symbols. His eyes couldn't be seen through his visor-like blindfold that made out of a very firm material. His entire torso body was exposed, so his many muscles and more green glowing tattoos could be seen.
The demon hunter still wore some armour. His shoulders and his forearms were covered by platinum coloured bracers in which green glowing runes were engraved. His lower body was covered by armour made out of the same material. He had long white hair and a goatee. The three women assumed that he was Cenon because there was no other demon hunter in this room.
Next to him sat a gnome who looked like an engineer. He wore engineer goggles with blue glasses, had long blue hair and a long blue beard. Cenon was not the only elf who sat at the table. There was a female high elf with long orange hair. She wore a yellow dress which wouldn't hinder her in battle. She belonged to the minority of the quel'dorei who didn't join the Horde and renamed themselves to sin'dorei. She considered herself as a high elf and not as a blood elf.
The last person who sat there was a human paladin. It was a female who had medium-long brown hair, an ugly scar on her right cheek and a tattoo of a bird on the right side of her neck. Her armour was also golden but not as massive as Gori's. Her weapon was a huge hammer which stood on the ground next to the chair she was sitting on.
Cenon stood up from his chair and walked over to the newcomers. "Who did you bring us this time, Gori?" he asked and smiled at the group.
"More volunteers for the mission." She pointed at the three females one after one. "These are Velsana, Vissia and Sanlara."
Cenon stretched his arm out and shook their hands one after one. "I'm Cenon, it's nice to meet you.
"It's nice to meet you too," responded Velsana.
Cenon turned around and pointed at the gnome. "This is Gnal. He likes to create bombs and throw them at his enemies." He pointed at the high elf. "This is Vendera. She is a battle priest who has a lot of experience in combat. She knows exactly how to use the holy light to weaken and kill demons." He pointed at the human. "That's Selania. She likes to smash demon heads with her hammer."
"Nice to meet you guys," said Sanlara.
"We are only eight in total, right?" asked Velsana.
"Ten," corrected Cenon. "There are two more group members who should arrive soon."
"Do you have a plan already?"
Cenon nodded. "Yes, I have."
"I assume you'll wait until the two others have arrived and then tell us what you have planned," Sanlara asked.
He nodded.
"What will we do in the meantime?" asked Vissia.
"You can do whatever you want. Eat something, relax a little or do something else. It's up to you. We will set off after nightfall," the demon hunter told.
"Do we have enough supplies for the mission?"
"We have but we don't think that the mission will take longer than a week. We have to kill their commander as soon as possible."
"I see."
"Do you have any other questions?"
The women shook their heads.
Cenon smiled. "Feel free to take a seat and get known to the group."
"We would love to do that," said the rogue and walked to the table. Velsana followed her quickly so did Sanlara. There were two empty seats between Vendera and Selania and one seat next to Cenon. The couple didn't hesitate to sit down on the two seats, so Sanlara sat down next to the demon hunter.
Vissia was too shy to talk with these strangers she would rely on during the mission. She knew nothing about them and wanted to get known to them but she remained silent. Fortunately, her girlfriend and her best friend started to talk to the other persons and gained some information.
Selania was one of the few survivors of Lordaeron who went with Lady Jaina Proudmoore to Kalimdor and helped to build Theramore. She once had been a soldier under the command of Arthas Menethil but she had left his army when he had ordered the purging of Stratholme.
Gori was the second hand of High Exarch Yrel and one of the best fighters she had. She claimed that at least. The three women would find out if she was telling the truth when they would see her fighting.
Gnal didn't say much. The three women only found out that he loved to work on his bombs to make them even deadlier. He was little in size but he could throw things very high and very far. He had proved that by throwing an apple out of the window. The apple had landed near the border to the battlefield where mortals were fighting against demons. Velsana guessed that he had thrown the apple at least five hundred feet
Vendera hadn't said anything because she was mute. She had just sat there and listened to the conversation. She had communicated with the help of sign language. Velsana didn't know sign language but Vissia had translated for her. They found out that Vendera's entire family died in the Second War. That was the main reason she didn't join the Horde. She didn't want to fight at the side of trolls and orcs who killed many high elves in the Second War. Vendera had a seven years old daughter, her husband was a captain of the Silver Covenant that was led by Vereesa Windrunner.
She didn't give any information about her hobbies or what she liked and disliked. But it was safe to say that she hated the Horde. It was only understandable that she hated the orcs and trolls. The three night elf women were asking themselves what she thought about the blood elves, her former people who decided to join the Horde. It was not unlikely that she regarded them as traitors.
Cenon hadn't revealed much information about himself. He hadn't talked about his past, nor about his hobbies, dreams or future plans. He had just told the others that he had a sister who was a priestess in the service of High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind.
Velsana, Vissia and Sanlara had told the others about their pasts because they saw no reason to hid such information from them. Velsana had told them that her mother died when the Burning Legion invaded for the first time. She had been a little girl back then and unable to defend herself. Her mother had sacrificed herself to save her daughter.
Since that day, Velsana had sworn to destroy the Burning Legion and kill as many demons as possible. She slew them in the name of her deceased mother. She did not want her mother to have given her life in vain, so she killed every demon who dared to come near her.
Nothing of greater importance had happened in Vissia's past, so she spoke about her family, her hobbies and her hopes. She hoped the Burning Legion would be defeated one day and would never return to Azeroth. She wanted nothing more than to live in peace with the woman she loved.
Sanlara had revealed that she had two children and was married to Vissia's brother. She knew Vissia since her birth and had always watched over her like a big sister. She had helped her whenever she could and had been there for Vissia whenever she had needed her. She had also told the others that she had been trained by the best mages on Azeroth. She had been trained by the Dragon Aspects and their consorts. Most of the times she had been trained by the Dragon Queen Alexstrasza and her consorts Korialstrasz and Tyranastrasz. She was a very powerful fire mage and no one doubted that. Many members of the Alliance and even of the Horde had heard of her and her skills. She belonged to the most popular and most famous night elves.
The group talked about daily topics once they were done with exchanging personal information. They talked and talked and only stopped as they noticed the arrival of two creatures. It was already late afternoon when a warlock and a shaman came to the group.
They introduced themselves quickly. The shaman was a female dwarf with long brunette hair who wore a blue dress. Her name was Talu Stonebreaker and she was accompanied by an earth elemental. The warlock was a human from Gilneas. It was not unlikely that she was a worgen but the three women were not sure about that. They knew nothing about her. Nothing but her name.
Alison Blacktail. She was very young, probably in her mid-twenties, had long and curly raven-black hair and wore tight-fitting black leggings and a vest made out of black leather. She had several piercings in her right ear and her right eyebrow was pierced too. The right side of her nose was also pierced. There was also a small piercing on the right side of her bottom lip.
Velsana wondered for a moment if there were more parts of her body that were pierced too. Maybe her right nipple or her right southern lip. It wouldn't surprise her but she had no intention to find that out because there was only one woman in her life and that was the shy rogue who was sitting next to her and holding her hand beneath the table.
The newcomers took a seat and gave Cenon a curious and expectant look. The demon hunter stood up and spread out a map, he had taken out of his backpack, on the table. The map showed Azsuna which was subdivided into three isles. Illidari Stand was on the west coast on the lower half of the biggest isle and the isle Faronaar was not far away from it.
Several mountain chains were marked there. Everyone knew that reaching the two marked buildings wouldn't be easy. Several paths were also marked in the map but hundreds of hundreds of demons were near them and even took them on their patrols. They had to climb the steep hills and mountains to reach the buildings if they wanted to avoid the demons.
"Our task is to kill the commander and not to kill as many demons as possible. We will try to reach the headquarterswithout being seen by the demons. Then we kill the commander and teleport back to Illidari Stand. I recommend everyone to bind their hearthstones to this place and use them in an emergency situation. We can follow the paths and don't have to climb the hills and mountains if our mage is able to make us invisible and renew the spell every few hours. No demon should see us if everything works perfectly.
No demon except for observers and the floating eyes of the inquisitors. We have to stay away from them, overwise they can see us and uncover us. Things wouldn't go well for us if they would alarm the surrounding demons. There are also demons who smell the use of magic so we have to be careful where we cast spells and renew the invisible spell. We have to be careful and make no noises. Fortunately, there are spells which absorb any sound we make," Cenon explained.
"Is everything clear for everyone or do you have any question?" he asked as he looked around.
Velsana raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"How do we recognize the commander?"
"She wears a massive fel green armour and carries a massive mace in her hands. I don't know her name but I know she once belonged to our people. She is one of these traitors that joined the Legion instead of fighting them ten thousand years ago."
"Is that all we know about her?"
"I'm afraid yes. We only know a little about her appearance. We have no information about her power, her past and the reason why she joined the Burning Legion. We may find that out or not. We will see. Our goal is to kill her. Maybe we take her captive if that's possible but we won't take any risk because of that. We will just kill her if taking her captive is too risky or turns out to be impossible."
"We are ten and she is alone. I don't see a problem with that," said Alison.
Cenon raised an eyebrow. "It's very unlikely that she is alone. I assume she has many demons around her and it wouldn't surprise me if she would summon more. I also assume she is very powerful. We shouldn't make the mistake of underestimating her."
"As long as we stop her from completing any summoning spell, I'm sure we can handle her," replied the warlock.
"I hope so," he said thoughtfully.
No one else said anything in response.
"Any more questions?" Cenon asked eventually.
The members of his group shook their heads.
"Is everyone ready for departure?"
They nodded.
"Good. We will cross the battlefield as soon as night falls," he announced.