Travel Log

Atrum

Status: Itching for a fight.

Inventory: Warblade, Burnsabre, Werewolf Helm, 760 gold, Satronar studies, "A Brief Glance into the Burning Legion" by Malfurion Stormrage

Spells: None identified.

Abilities: Full Moon Metamorphosis.

Torva

Status: Takin' a col' showa', mon.

Inventory: Dual Throwing Axes, stolen beer mugs.

Spells: To 'ell wit joo!

Abilities: Ey beybe, hop in bed wit meh and I show joo sum real abilotees!

Rowan

Status: Still scared shitless.

Inventory: Toolkits, Gadgets, spring-based clip, gun powder, tubing, other unfinished parts, Various engineering books, 160 gold.

Spells: Level 3 Badmouthing.

Abilities: Inventing, Tinkering, Comforting, and Fleeing.

Gahren

Status: Experiencing a hangover.

Inventory: Warhammer, Studded Fur Armor, Chieftain's Helm, 520 Gold

Spells: None Identified.

Abilities: None Identified.

Group

Group Morale: Uber good.

Machines/Vehicles: 3 Large Wagons

Troops: 14 Gnolls

Supplies: 6 Bushels of food, Gnoll weaponry, various stolen bar-related items.

I present to you, Wolven!

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Atrum awoke when a knocking came at his door. "Come in!" Atrum was a little drowsy, but his energy was more than fully restored. I wonder how long I was asleep... come to think of it, what time is it? Gahren chose to enter at that moment. He glanced at Atrum and came to his bedside, resting his large frame on a seat that shouldn't have been capable of holding him up. "Hey Gahren, do you know what time it is?" No natural light penetrated into the underground chamber, it was lit constantly thanks to the light and energy generated by magically powered crystals and various torches dotted throughout the underground village.

"It is nearing noon, sir. But anyway, I came to ask you about something, Lord Atrum." He leaned closer and lowered his voice incase of passing eavesdroppers "… I have heard from the elf that you had some trouble yesterday... is this true, sir?" The hunter sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah… T'was a rough night…" He paused for a moment, then glanced at Gahren, but looked down afterwards. He blushed slightly as he said this. "I..uh.. met a girl." At this, Gahren also stiffened up. Soon, both of the grizzled veterans of war realized that this topic of women was one that neither side was very comfortable with.

"Ah... so…" Gahren tapped his fingers together. "Perhaps we should, ah... patrol the perimeter for, um… spooks?"

"Yes, yes... good idea, Gahren. Let's patrol for spooks..." Atrum hopped out of bed and grabbed his weapons and helmet enthusiastically. Gahren stood up, and both moved through the tunnel network and at a fast pace. "So, Gahren... What are spooks?"

"I don't think it matters, sir."

"Right…right…"

--------------

Rose and Rowan had seated themselves in a portion of the bar that had managed to survive last night's festivities. "So this entire village was built underground? And everything here is networked together?"

Rose nodded in return. "Yes, basically. I wasn't here when it happened, but the head of the village said that this place had originally been a series of networked cellars, built because of the lack of space in the canyon. Soon, the Scourge came along and started wrecking nearby towns. Out of fear, everyone went underground, and they've stayed here since the start of the war. Travelers seeking refuge from the Scourge showed up and found sanctuary here. In return, they helped make life easier for the people here. For instance, a wizard and an alchemist came along and created a few sets of glowing crystals, used as a source of light. Some of those travelers, like me for instance, went so far as to stay here. That's where that Pandaren came from, if you're still wondering."

"Hah… that makes sense. Thanks for filling me in on this; I'll have to tell Atrum and Gahren about it later." Rowan had to admit, this girl was wonderful. He hadn't had a conversation this pleasant in years! Strange, that a girl like this was capable of frightening Atrum... "Hey, what exactly is this place called, anyway?"

"Well, it has this really odd name. I don't think I'll ever understand why… but, they call this place Rah Tcelel." Rowan scrunched his face and tilted his head, his mouth hanging open lazily. He mouthed the word and tested the name out. Rose snickered quietly to herself, but resisted the urge to continue and tried to save the man from making even more of a fool of himself. "Don't worry about it, we all get used to it eventually." Rowan relaxed his jaw and face and returned to speaking to Rose.

"Heh, it doesn't exactly roll of the tongue, does it? Hmm, well... I'm afraid we won't be sticking around long enough to get used to that name. Atrum said something to Gahren earlier... about searching for more Gnoll tribes. He made a promise, you see, to help redeem the gnolls…" Rowan explained to her the story of creatures. Being a night elf, she seemed more open to the idea of misunderstood creatures. "So, you see, in order to help them survive, he wants to unite them, and create some sort of gnoll alliance." Rowan scratched the back of his head. "To tell you the truth, I'm kind of worried. I mean, he's strong as hell... but I don't know if he can be much of a leader."

"Wait, strong? Well, I know he's the Atrum, but… he doesn't seem that dangerous. And, sure, he's quite buff, but compared to a gnoll? They make him look like a twig."

"Is that so?" The voice came from behind her. She turned around in surprise to find said twig standing behind her, a large warblade about as long as he stood tall slung over his shoulders. "Well, little missy, I'll have you know this twig hasn't lost a fight in over ten years."

Her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. "How the hell can you carry that thing! It's bigger than you are!" She pointed at the weapon with a shaky finger "That's inhuman!"

"Yeah, so?" his answer was nonchalant. Just as casually, he flipped the large weapon into his hand and spun it around his index finger like one would do with a key chain. "You look like you've never seen a demon hunter before." Rowan's heart nearly stopped beating. The rotating blade, mere inches from his face, had frozen his body in fear.

"L-lord A-Atrum... c-could you s-s-step a-w-way, please?" Atrum noticed his proximity to the poor fellow and stepped away, apologizing afterwards. Gahren, who had walked in moments later, shook his head in disbelief, remembering the incident that occurred on their way here.

"Sorry 'bout that, Rowan." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Didn't see you there..."

"Whoa, wait, hang on a second! You say you're a demon hunter?" Rose pointed at him incredulously, "How come you still have your eyes? You're not blind or something, are you?"

Atrum shrugged. "I'm not blind, but I didn't really buy into the whole 'cut your eyes out' fad… Besides, being part-wolf, my senses are heightened anyway. And in a worse case scenario, there's always a spell for spectral sight. Night Elf demon hunting differs greatly from the demon hunting that ended up being practiced by the Quel'dorei. This version focuses less on tradition, and is open to plenty of new ideas, so things really hit off here."

"Ah… Interesting. I've never seen a demon hunter native to Azeroth before, though..."

"Yeah, well, we're not exactly common. I had to learn to become one on my own, out of books, because there weren't any demon hunters around from where I came from. Sometimes high elven demon hunters would pass through here because they heard about me. Thus far… I think I'm the only human that's attempted demon hunting."

"I see... I guess that makes sense…" Rose examined him carefully. His golden eyes still sent chills down her spine. Atrum felt an uneasiness growing as she kept staring at him. He looked down at his feet and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Finally, realizing she was staring, Rose let out a small gasp and looked away. "S-sorry... It's just, you see, your eyes, they…I'm still not used to them, y'know?…"

"…Yeah… I know."

The passing silence worried Rowan, having witnessed Atrum's mental breakdown just last night. "H-hey, um, didn't you guys say you had something to do?" At least it would take his mind off of this, thought Rowan.

Gahren was quick to seize Rowan's bait "Yes, that's correct. Lord Atrum and I had decided it would be wise to patrol the perimeter. Shall we get going, my lord?" The last portion was slightly forced, but Atrum got the hint. Without another word, he made his way back down the corridor, looking down all the while, with Gahren trailing not too far behind. Rowan sighed but a second after they left the room. He checked on Rose and found her looking down at the table, contemplating something.

"What's wrong?" Slowly, she turned her gaze on the doorway Atrum had just left through. When she spoke, Rowan could detect the feeling of guilt in her words.

"Atrum's a nice guy, despite the stories, but… it feels like I'm just a nuisance to him. An unhealthy reminder of everything he wants to forget... Rowan, help me get on his good side, please? At least until you guys have to go, okay?"

Rowan was dumbstruck. What would he know about Atrum? He just met the man three days ago! But each time he looked at Rose's pleading face, the thought of refusing her made him feel like rubbish. "I... damnit… Okay! Okay! I'll help you… but I make no guarantees..."

"Yes! Thank you, Rowan!" She gave him a quick hug, and he was left blushing a bright red whilst the girl ran off. Once more, Rowan sighed.

"What the hell is wrong with this place?..."

--------------

"What the hell is wrong with this place?"

Atrum maneuvered through the brightly lit halls of the underground village, making various lefts and rights in a lost state of confusion. He stopped abruptly and looked around. "It all looks the same, like a freaking maze…" He stopped to ponder on where to go next. Gahren managed to find him through his scent, but was still as lost as his companion. Giving up all hope, Atrum sighed and leaned against the neighboring wall.

"Lost?" The voice came from down the hall. Atrum and Gahren approached it cautiously. The host of the voice slowly came into view, revealing itself to be a male night elf warlock.

"Yeah, actually. We were trying to find the way out and... well... here we are." Atrum's voice trailed off into a mumble. The warlock chuckled and gave him a pat on the back.

"Don't sweat it, kid. All the newcomers get lost often. Here, follow me." He began leading them through the maze of corridors. "So, who might you and your canine companion be?"

"What did you—!" Gahren move closer to their guide, but Atrum pulled an arm up to stop him. He motioned for Gahren to 'let it go.' The Gnoll warrior waved it off, but not before sending the warlock a quick glare. Thankfully, it went unnoticed.

"We're… just a couple of mercenaries. You know the whole deal, right? Just trying to get by from one day to the next…" Atrum nodded to himself, hoping it would be a convincing lie. After all, what else would better explain a human traveling with a gnoll? Atrum doubted that the truth would actually sound convincing at all. Besides, the less people knew about him, the more comfortable he'd be around them.

"Ah, I see… Yeah, I was kinda like you two once, drifting from one town to the next. But then a certain beauty caught my eye, and I've been chasing her around for a while. I finally found her taking refuge here. It's been two weeks since I arrived. Oh, my apologies, the name's Ferdre Moondagger, warlock extraordinaire! Nice to meetcha ...uh…"

"It's Mike! Yeah, uh... name's Mike. And this here is... Fang Furmountain! Yeah..." Atrum could feel the chills triggered by an icy glare being stared down his back, but chose to ignore it. They'd be gone by tomorrow, and it's not like this guy would follow them! Besides, Gahren would forgive him… eventually.

"Okay…" Ferdre's eyes glowed curiously, brows peaking in interest "Interesting names you've got there… Got a last name, 'Mike'?"

"Nope…" Again, he felt Gahren's cold stare upon his spine.

"I see… That's a warblade you've got there, isn't it? I thought only demon hunters carried those." His voice hinted at his suspicions.

'Damn, he's onto us...' thought Atrum. "Uh, yeah, that's right; I ripped this off a dead one." He received another curious glance from the warlock, "Wait, no, it's not like that! He was dead when I got there, honestly! I figured he wouldn't need 'em anymore, so…" 'This lie is getting out of hand...' Sweat trickled down the back of his neck, sweat that Gahren's sharp eyes took notice of.

"It's true." The Gnoll spoke up, if only to keep his identity safe as well. "I was there with him when he found it. It was during a vacation in Kalimdor." With that, he remained silent, hoping Atrum could take care of the rest.

"Vacation? I didn't know mercenaries took vacations."

"Well, we do." They neared the exit, and the conversation was dwindling down anyway, so Atrum saw no reason to provide Ferdre with anymore intelligent conversation. Ferdre seemed to have taken notice of this as well.

"I see… Well, here's the exit. Good luck doing whatever you're doing!" He showed the two the way up the ladder, waved them off, and then went back on his away. As soon as they were out of sight completely, Ferdre grinned greedily to himself and went in the direction they came from. 'Alright, now to find my lovely Rose and romance her endlessly… mwahaha... You will be mine yet, my darling Rose!' He cackled quietly to himself, choosing to ignore the stares coming his way.

------------

"Achoo!"(1)

"Bless you! Do you have a cold or something, Rose?" Rowan searched in his pockets for his handkerchief, found it cleaned and ready for use, and handed it to the sentinel.

"No, not really... weird. Night elves are supposed to be immune to illnesses. It was probably some dust or something. But, thank your Rowan." She took the handkerchief with an appreciative smile.

"Huh, for what?"

"For being polite. Hardly anyone around here is polite anymore…"

"Ah... well, you're welcome. You know, the Pandarens have an old saying that when you sneeze, it means someone's talking about you."

"Oh please, that's just silly, Rowan. Here, go get some tea from that cabinet over there." She pointed to one of the various wooden cabinets in her room. Apparently, permanent members of the village were given more spacious rooms, and hers was certainly no unfurnished closet. She had everything from lights, to a small, personal kitchen, to another small, personal restroom, a large and well-fluffed bed, and of course, wooden chairs, stools and tables scattered across the room.

"Um, this one, right?" The blood elf pointed to one of the cupboards.

"No, no, it's two down on the right. Yes, that one. The tea should be on the upper level."

"Found it!" He pulled out a small jar with some crushed leaves in it.

"Good, there should also be some sugar on the lower level of that cabinet."

Rowan rummaged though small cupboard again, pulling out and reinserting various jars and cans of 'who-knew-what'. Finally, came across a white, powdery substance, tasted it, and nodded approvingly. "Yeah, it's here." He took it as well and made his way to the young night elf.

Rose had already grabbed a pair of tea cups and had some warm water reading while he'd gone for the tea. Within a few minutes, both were sipping on their cups, going over various conversation topics.

"So... nice weather we're having?"

Rose chuckled "Why yes, what fine weather we're having here with our artificial light and thick, humid air!" Rowan smiled back at her half-heartedly.

"Yeah, I'm no stranger to sarcasm either… So… um…"

"Yes?"

"...Tell me about yourself?"

"Oh, um, okay… Let's see, where to start?..." Rose mulled it over in her head, and eventually decided on something. "Well, I—"

"Ey, sexy!" Down the corridor and through the doorway came stumbling everyone's favorite troll. "Wha's a babe like joo doin' wis dis foo, eh?" A beer mug was raised in his right hand, half full, and a chair leg in the other, probably torn off during one of Torva's various bar fights. "C'mon, come wit' me, baby. I take joo foh a crazy ride!"

Rowan's face was stuck in a bemused pattern. "Is it just me, or has his speech become more articulate?"

"Ey, mon, it's da beeya. Beeya do miriko's foh us trolls."

Rowan shook his head in disbelief. He asked himself again just why he'd agreed to travel with these people. 'No, that's not right, I didn't agree to go with them... In fact, they never really gave me an offer. Atrum was just… there. And Torva… Torva was the one that actually dragged me along, wasn't he? I must have subconsciously accepted this, because there's no way I'd have signed up for this voluntarily…'

"I think I'll pass on that offer…"

"Aw, don' gimme dat, baby! Wut have I eva don to joo, eh?"

"Wash your mouth, cut your nails, take a bath, and maybe then we'll talk."

"..Eh…I—Oof!" Torva didn't have time to respond for Rose had taken advantage of his moment of confusion and shoved him out of the room. She shut the door, set the lock, dusted her hands, and returned to her seat.

"..You weren't serious about that, were you?"

She shrugged in response. "It got him out the door, didn't it?"

------------

The duo had traveled up the canyon road with Atrum once again in the lead. Gahren thought over the day's events in his head. The man in front of him was supposed to lead his people to salvation. But right now, he was still dealing with the effects of an apparent mental breakdown. Not good at all, it would have probably brought morale down had his gnoll brethren have been sober. "Lord Atrum, this issue with the female…"

"Huh? Oh... It's nothing, Gahren."

"Sir…not to be rude, but your little 'nothing' cause seems to be causing everyone some general chaos. Perhaps it would be best to talk over it now…"

"You're not going to leave it alone, are you?"

"No, sir."

Atrum let out a heavy sigh. He let Gahren catch up before beginning. "See, it's like this… She looks and acts a lot like a girl I used to know…" His eyes scanned the end of the forest before them as they reached the top of the small canyon. "To be honest, I didn't expect to see that face again in my life… and it came as a shock when I did."

Gahren nodded in response. But something quirked his interest about the girl of Atrum's past. "My lord, what of the other girl? Why did you never expect to see her again?" Silence followed. "…Sir?"

Atrum took a seat under the shade of a nearby tree and motioned for Gahren to follow. "It's not a story I like to share, Gahren. But... I can make this one exception. It happened little more than five years ago, about a month before I left my home, near Hammerfall. That girl and I, we'd been best friends since I was six. Her name was Violet. When she turned twelve and I, thirteen, she'd left with her mother and father because of her father's business. They returned when I was sixteen. Naturally, I was glad, she was one of my few 'friends' and the time. But about a month later, she and her family were also sucked into the troubles of the werewolf that had been wandering the countryside. I, being the only demon hunter and capable freelancer in the area, was paid to go out and hunt it down. Seeing as it was the same wolf that killed my folks, I did it for free.

"But then, after I returned, the wolf's curse started to take effect. Rumors started being passed around about how there was a second werewolf, all that sort of rubbish. The truth was that the new wolf was really just me under the effect of the wolf's curse. Since the curse wasn't full-blown, I had never fully changed into the form of a werewolf, but no one had ever spotted be before then, so it had assumed that there was just another wolf. I was hoping I could keep it that way until I'd left town.

"Unfortunately for me, it didn't work out that way. On the night of the 11th anniversary of my parents' deaths… there was a full moon. I had little control over myself that night, and struggled to get away from the town before I hurt someone. But on my way out, I was spotted by Violet and her family. They had decided to 'solve the wolf problem' by themselves, since I had denied it over and over again every time they asked. When they saw me, I ran opposite of them as fast as I could. But they caught up somehow, I must have been tired from trying to get away from the town, I don't really know. Anyway.. This part gets a little fuzzy…

"It was utter chaos for everyone when they caught me. Violet was more than shocked, to say the least. When they chained me up and locked me in their cellar, the only times she ever came to visit was to bring me bread or water. Even then… she never said anything. That was probably what hurt the most out of everything..."

"The story is very intriguing, sir, but it still doesn't answer my—"

"Hold your horses, Gahren, I'm getting there. At least this way, you won't need to ask me as many questions." When he was sure the gnoll chieftain would refrain from anymore interruptions, Atrum continued with is tale. "One night, while the moon was full, someone had opened up the cellar doors, but I couldn't tell who it was. When the moonlight shined in, I regained much of my lost strength and managed escape, reclaiming all my belongings along the way.

"During my escape, I saw her standing in the doorway that would have lead me to freedom. I should have been glad, but the look on her face had me thinking otherwise. It was the same look Rose had given me… When I had approached her, she'd backed away and cowered from me. That was the last straw for me… I told her off, said she should've been ashamed of herself for acting that way to someone that had trusted her with their life. That was the last thing I'd ever said to her.

"After that, I stuck around in hiding for a few more months, preparing for my journey out on the road. After another four months, I left town, and didn't come back until four years later. The Scourge had ruined the place... everything from the orphanage I'd lived in to the damned barracks I visited for sparring practice. I even went so far as to check for bones, but then I realized how stupid of me that was. The scourge would have carried them off, had they been dead. I never saw them again, and now every time I think about it, I feel guilty for what I said to her…"

"…It's best not to dwell on the past, my Lord." The young hunter smiled back at his subordinate.

"It's best not to do a lot of things, Gahren. But that never stops one from doing it anyway…" He received a small chuckle in response. Another five minutes of silence followed. Atrum thought it was about time to get going. But when he turned to look at Gahren, he found the old one staring off in the distance. "What's wrong, Gahren?"

"I…I smell death. It's coming from the further down the path."

"More like undeath." Atrum narrowed his eyes. "But why would the Foresaken send patrols here? They're not supposed to know about this place..."

"Hmm…" Gahren raised his warhammer and began heading in the direction of the forest "Perhaps we should investigate further." He stopped momentarily to make sure Atrum was following him. "Coming, sir?"

Atrum looked up at the sky. It was still noon. "Yeah, but… let's take it easy, okay? If it looks like more than we can handle, we turn tail and run, got it?"

"But of course."

------------

"So… how come you're so shy all the time?" He'd been expecting this question from Rose, but Rowan had done little to prepare for it. "Erm, well… I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you. It's a little embaressing though…" Rose smiled encourangingly. "Go on, I'm listening"

"..Promise you won't laugh?"

"I promise."

"Because, you know, if you want to laugh, it's okay.. I mean, people laugh all the time and it's no big deal and, I mean I could tolerate it if I really had too and you—"

"Rowan! Just.. I promise I won't laugh, okay?"

"O..okay. Well… let's just say that I'm a… 'defective' elf." Rowan struggled with the word. "..Excuse me?" She hoped it wasn't going in the direction she thought it was. Topics like these made her feel very uncomfortable. After all… night elves didn't talk about or do these things very often… it wasn't really required of them. "Yeah, I, you know, I… I can't... 'work my magic'."

"..Oh. So…" Rose tried to phrase it carefully so as not to sound offensive "You can't make it 'go'?" Rowan looked down, slightly ashamed. "No… I can't use a staff or a rod the way a normal elf could either. People always said I had the energy for it, but never the ability." Rowan nodded to emphasize his point. "Oh...oh my…" Rose was blushing furiously at this point, whilst the other elf remained oblivious. "Yes, it's made me unpopular with certain people. I haven't had much luck in my life…"

"By Elune, you poor thing! It must feel terrible!"

"It does…"

"All the things you'll never see…"

"Yeah…"

"And all the things you'll never feel…"

"Yeah…?"

"And all the women that you'll never be with.."

"Yea—Wait, what!"

"D-didn't you say you were 'defective'?" Rose looked at him curiously, her face still blushing a dark purple. "Yes! I'm a defective elf, I can't use magic!" Rose's pupils shrunk. "..M-magic? That's what you were talking about?" It was Rowan's turn to stare curiously at Rose "..Yes. What did you think I was talking about?"

"N-nothing!" She brought her hands up in protest. "It's just that… with all this talk of rods and staves… and you being a 'defective' elf…" Rowan's eyes widened as the idea began to sink in.

"No! NO! Dear heavens, NO! That's not it at all!"

"Yes, I understand, I'm sorry but I—"

"That's—No, that's just wrong!"

"Okay, okay!" Once again, Rose held her hands up, this time trying to calm Rowan from having another fit. "So then… that part of you is fully functional, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. I mean, I haven't really tried to use it like that.. I haven't had the chance to.. I mean, I'm sure it works.. it should work.. I still get those.. those.."

"Those what?" Rose bared a sly grin.

"Uh…uh... I... those… uh… excuse me!" Without another word, he darted straight to the Rose's personal restroom. The sentinel did her best to stifle her giggles. She failed miserably.

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The hunter and the chieftain made their way through the brush, staying close to the vegetation for cover. Atrum peeked out of the bushes to get a better view of the patrolling undead. Four abominations, three meat wagons, and eight ghouls. Atrum wasn't too impressed.

"Hey Gahren, how tough would you say you are?"

"I can take on two Infernals, sir."

"That'll do. I'll take care of the abominations, you can take the meat wagons. The ghouls are first-come, first serve." And the he smirked… "..First one to finish buys the loser a beer." The large gnoll smirked in response.

"You're on…sir"

Without warning, both barreled into mad sprints toward their assigned targets. Atrum reached his opponent first. The abomination, normally in a retarded state, but now completely dumbstruck, was helplessly left frozen in place as Atrum pulled his warblade onto the creature. The beast tore in two and fell limp to the floor as Atrum moved on to his next victim.

Gahren was fairing just as well. His warhammer crushed through a meat wagon with a sickening crack. "Ugh…disgusting…" He wiped the blood of his face and continued on while shaking off a particularly annoying ghoul that simply refused to die…again. Finally, the damned creature collided with his weapon and the impact sent the creature off on course set to eclipse the sun.

At that moment, Atrum was having difficulty with the two remaining Abominations, the last one having been torn through as well. They had him cornered, and unfortunately for him, the sun was in his eyes. But the conveniently timed eclipse had given him the edge he needed. Without a second to waste, Atrum aimed and flung his warblade like a boomerang, effectively chopping off the second monster's head. While the boomerang was on its return course, Atrum drew his blade and swung at the other creature. The beast parried his blade with its hooked hand, but the distraction had bought the hunter enough time for the kill. Jumping to the side, he watched in grim satisfaction as the boomerang-blade returned, hitting the dirt and taking the creature with it.

Though retrieving his weapon proved a disgusting process, Atrum managed to gather his wits and move on to slaying ghouls. Gahren had just finished up with his last meat wagon when Atrum begun his ghoul hunting. Together, the duo made short work of the remaining ghouls, save one. It was far off at the edge of the forest, preparing to scamper off.

"Quick, chase it! That thing'll inform its superiors!" The two followed the beast as quick as they could. Gahren began lagging behind, though Atrum managed to stay his pace. At one point, the trees started to look dry, dead, and hollow. They were nearly at the edge of the forest, and Atrum knew he could no longer avoid it. He readied his warblade, stopping to take aim, and let it loose on the minor undead. The blade closed in and within moments, had taken off one of its legs. But the beast continued moving forward, now with only three limbs.

"Oh hell no…" By the time Atrum reached his fallen blade, the walking corpse had made it towards its companions at the far side of the clearing behind the forest. There was nothing he could do now. The hunter turned back and sprinted toward the canyon.

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"Ugh… I wunda what dey be doin in deh… Dat damn fairy has all da luck…" Torva was sitting against the outside of Rose's room, pondering on what Rowan was doing within the very same room. His mind was going mad with jealousy. Honestly, what did the elf have that he didn't? They shy thing? Torva could be shy! Maybe it was the glowing eyes. Well, fuck that, he wasn't going to act like some fairy-boy(2) just to get a woman… "..okey, mebbe I would… the purpa gurl waz pretty sexy…"

Ferdre, strolling down to meet his precious Rose, had the unfortunate pleasure of finding a rather unpleasant troll sitting in front of his love's doorway. "Excuse me, sir, but… what in the name of Elune are you doing on my dear Rose's doorstep?"

"I waitin' foh her to open da door, mon."

"…You're awfully articulate for a troll, aren't you?"

"Trus' me, i's da beer. So why joo heeya, mon?" Torva did his best to attempt a polite conversation. Maybe it could take his mind off Rose… "Actually, I'm here to see what my darling is doing right now" …but soon failed, because… "Well, if ya ask meh, I think what she probably doin' is mah good friend right now…" and so ends another attempt at conversation with Torva.

"What?"

"Yeah. Sucks, doesn' it? 'Specially wen it shud be me in deh.."

"Damnit, move over!"

"Hey, watchoo—Oof!" For the second time that day, the troll was pushed aside by a night elf. "Ow, mah butt…damned spoiled fairies…"

Paying no attention to the injured troll, the warlock blasted the lock off the door with a spell and rushed inside to halt his worst nightmare… "Darling, I must insist that you—Oof!" …but was pushed aside by a rather large gnoll within moments of entry.

Rose and Rowan stood up immediately. "Gahren! Ferdre?"

"Gahren! I thought your name was Fang!"

"Shut up, fairy, now's not the time." He kicked the fallen warlock to the side, and cleared the doorway, allowing passage to one bloodied demon hunter.

Rose gasped at the sight of him "Atrum! Dear goddess, what happened to you?"

"Relax, it's not my blood. Listen, I need to know where the head of this village is."

"What, but why?..."

"The Forsaken are coming this way. I don't know when they'll get here or what they'll bring, but we need to prepare. Big time." Atrum had his helmet off and was looking straight into her eyes. The chilling stare sent shivers through her body, forcing her to look away.

"Alright… follow me." He nodded silently and, with Gahren, followed her lead. Torva, spotting them leave, decided it was better to follow them than sit and sulk in his misery. Rowan was still stuck in shock before he realized everyone had left, and quickly scampered off to follow.

And off to the side, trampled and forgotten, lay a warlock with a growing vengeance.

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XD! Night Elf abuse! YES! Haha..wow, this chapter was way longer than I'd intended it to be. Anyway, I hope you liked it. And now, to explain another little fun fact:

(1): This is actually a Japanese saying, some of you may have heard of it.

(2): Credit goes to BarkingMadArthur for this one. It's the best insulting description of a night elf that I've hear thus far.

Anyway, thanks for reading and please review! It'll bring you more chapters.