D'oh... is anyone still reading?
Hyara… She was far from him at the other end of a long, torchlit corridor. Felguards, hundreds of them, closed in around her and she lashed out desperately with only her tiny dagger. Galmak strained furiously to run to her but his legs were stuck in mud that sucked at his feet with every step. He saw her fall, saw the gush of blood spread toward him and flow like a tide down the hall. Raizha stood at his side. "See? She's dead, you don't need her anymore," the demoness laughed.
Galmak struggled to consciousness panting in a slick film of sweat. His eyes jerked open. Hyara lay peacefully at his side with his arm still enclosing her. He kissed her softly on the forehead, brushing his lips against the faint ridged pattern there. He lay for a few more moments with her in his arms, willing his heart to slow its pounding. Then slowly, carefully he extricated himself, covered her with the blanket, and stepped from the inn into the charcoal velvet of predawn.
There were very few people about. Anyone who was able still slept after last night's tumult. An ancient grey-haired troll crossed the yard in front of the inn and nodded a silent greeting, a net writhing with silver fish slung over his shoulder. The only other signs of movement came from the guards standing at nervous attention by the gates or pacing the wooden bridges that swayed gently between the mushroom watchtowers. He went off in search of Palla and found her sleeping in the stables. He smiled when he realized that the soft, whistling snores he heard were coming from Gink, who was curled into a tight ball in the hay like an oversized housecat.
Palla yawned as he approached and snapped her teeth together. You were lucky last night.
He sighed. Alright, I was stupid. I saw Chetvek bolt off and I couldn't let him go out there on his own. I thought I could bring him back in.
Gink would've killed you, you know, if she'd gotten killed.
I'll never make that mistake again. I don't know why I thought she'd stay away.
Galmak, you already know she would do anything to keep you safe. Or failing that, to get you to safety.
He did know that all too well. Why hadn't he learned yet that she was only as safe as he was? Palla shook wisps of hay from her fur and followed him out of the stables.
Did you find out anything last night that I don't know about? he asked.
Not really. They must have come in under cover of the rain. They left their dead here and they left several dead in the marsh not far away when they ran.
He stretched and yawned. A slight stiffness in his thigh muscles was all that told him he'd had an arrow through his leg the night before. Have you seen anything of Pellien?
The mage… no. He was fighting outside the wall with the rest of you. She sent him a look that only he would recognize as questioning. He nodded and the wolf sprinted north and disappeared outside the wall. She was back only a few minutes later, confirming what he'd feared.
I caught his scent mixed in with the Lost Ones' trail, heading north.
Damn. Alive?
Definitely, yes. Alive for as long as I followed the trail, at least.
Well, that solved the mystery… or at least part of it. He patted Palla and headed back to the inn. It was time to tell Chetvek the bad news about his erstwhile traveling companion.
"Vek," the orc said. He nudged his sleeping friend with a toe. Chetvek snorted and tossed his head side to side, making Galmak jump back to avoid the flailing horns. The tauren blinked and pushed himself up groggily.
"Whassat," Chetvek yawned tremendously. Nearby, Zarguhl's snores had broken off and the Mag'har was swiping a hand across his face to clear the sleep from his eyes.
"Apparently Pellien either got carted off by the Lost Ones or he left with them of his own accord," Galmak said.
"Oh…" Chetvek yawned again. "Why would he leave with them? I don't see a blood elf getting along with Lost Ones."
"I don't think it's likely either, but Palla couldn't tell how he left, only that he was alive when he did."
"We've got to find him then," Hyara said from across the room.
Zarguhl snorted. "If he was stupid enough to get himself captured we may as well leave him."
"He fought just as well as you did," Hyara said mildly.
Chetvek traced a knothole in the floor with one thick finger. "We do have to find him. I do, anyway; I was responsible for him being out there in the first place and I was put in charge of our little team to discover what was going on. Obviously we failed at that," he sighed. "You can go or stay, Zarguhl. And of course the two of you don't have any obligation to come along."
"I owe him for covering me when I would have gotten killed otherwise," Hyara said. "He stood by me when he could easily have done nothing."
Galmak glanced at her. "I agree; we can't just leave him."
"Well, fuck," Zarguhl grunted. "Chetvek goes, I go."
They all grinned and set about packing up.
Denjai was very sorry, but Zabra'jin simply could not spare the manpower right now necessary to hunt down one lost mage. They were trying to organize an offensive that, spirits willing, would launch in two days' time with a firm, clear message for the Lost Ones. Besides, the Daggerfen had never taken live prisoners before; what made this group so sure their friend would still be around to appreciate a rescue? No, there was no way. He was terribly sorry. He didn't like abandoning a member of the Horde to the tender mercies of a demon-twisted race, but the party was on their own if they wanted to do something about it. Luck be with them.
Galmak grimaced at the memory of that conversation. If Pellien had had no friends to even realize he was missing the blood elf would have disappeared without a trace or a care. Still, no sense dwelling on that; they were on their way north and now they needed a plan.
"Have either of you ever been to Daggerfen Village?" Galmak asked his friend and the Mag'har.
Chetvek shook his head. "We've been close, but never right up to it. The Daggerfen are particularly dangerous and Zabra'jin has always warned travelers not to go too near. They spent so many years quietly killing scouts that got in their way… odd now that they'd launch a head-on attack. On the Horde and the Alliance, no less."
"That's just like the Lost Ones, though," Zarguhl said. "Vicious and stupid."
A well-traveled path extended north from Zabra'jin for half their journey and they reached the Hewn Bog just past mid-day. Here they would have to leave the safety of the path and strike out to the northwest. They hoped to come within striking distance of the village by nightfall, when they could assess their options and try to find any signs of Pellien, alive or dead.
The Hewn Bog lived up to its name, although it seemed to be recovering from past injuries. Years ago ogres had blundered into the area and felled many of the gigantic mushrooms, leaving only ugly dead stumps and damaging countless plants and animals dependent on the fungi. Constant harrying from Orebor Harborage and Zabra'jin had eventually succeeded in driving the ogres away, but the damage had been done and now the marsh still struggled to regain its equilibrium. The sun beat down with more intensity where there were no sheltering mushroom caps, making the channels and the soggy ground steam. The group moved cautiously for fear of the Alliance scouts that often watched the marsh so near to their outpost at the Harborage. All seemed quiet though; the Alliance, like the Horde, had been hit hard the night before and most likely they were regrouping and planning their own counterattack.
The afternoon wore on. The milky, nether-stained blue sky deepened to plum and the energy flashed more intensely in the gathering darkness. Weak lights began to glimmer to life near the horizon. As if by silent agreement the party dismounted and now picked their way cautiously forward on foot. The Daggerfen would be fools not to have their own scouts out and given the tribe's skill in secrecy and stealth, the group wouldn't necessarily have any warning if they were spotted.
"It's too bad we don't have a rogue with us," Chetvek whispered.
"We do… of a sort," Hyara whispered back. She held up a hand and the group halted. Silently she called to Gink and the big cat came bounding from the darkness on paws light as air. Hyara knelt in front of him with her forehead pressed to his muzzle and whispered a soft command.
"Gather around me," she whispered. The two shamans were puzzled but Galmak understood. He pulled them in until Hyara knelt at the center of a tight circle with Gink, screened from any eyes that might be watching from the darkness. Green light sprang up around her hands, illuminating her face with the soft radiance of a spring day filtered through new leaves. She whispered another command to Gink, then closed her eyes. The cat slipped out of the circle and padded away to be lost in the darkness. Hyara knelt for several minutes with the green glow suffusing her face and flickering faintly around the inside of the circle. Then something nudged Galmak's leg and he looked down to see Gink fade back to visibility. The green light died from Hyara's hands and she looked up.
"He found Pellien," she said. Relieved sounds traveled through the men standing around her. "They're holding him in a small hut due west of us on the edge of the village. There's plenty of activity in some areas but it didn't look like there were very many guards at the hut. They have scouts out, but if we swing south we stand a chance of not running into them. Gink and Palla will scout ahead for us and find them first." As Galmak helped her rise he leaned in and kissed her.
"I don't suppose I could convince you to stay hidden somewhere safe with the mounts," he whispered.
She hissed in annoyance and swung her tail in a gentle thump to his rear. "Of course not. Haven't you learned your lesson yet? I go where you go. And I'm just as qualified for this as you are."
He caught her tail in one hand and ran his fingers down it caressingly, then tugged it and brought her into his arms. "I know you are. Don't blame me for worrying."
She kissed him in a way that suddenly made his pants seem too tight and he growled with frustration.
Hyara sighed in understanding. "I know… I wish that too, love." Her whisper tickled his ear and made him want to toss her down on the ground right here, but he managed to hold onto rational thought. That damn mage had better be grateful for all this. She took his hand and they moved off to follow Chetvek and Zarguhl where they'd disappeared behind a thick mushroom stump.
You can go a while yet before you have to dismount, Gink cut into Hyara's less-than-clean thoughts.
They traveled another quarter of an hour on their mounts, moving cautiously at first for fear of running into Daggerfen scouts. But they met with no trouble, and as the shamans began to trust Gink and Palla's directions they quickened their pace. When at last they had to stop and continue on foot the village's huts were visible ahead, dark silhouettes against the flickering sky. A few torches set on long wooden poles burned here and there among the buildings, casting liquid-fire reflections in the pools throughout the village. The largest huts were raised on stilts above the marsh's soggy ground, but many of the smaller ones were right on the ground and looked like temporary structures that could be moved in times of high water. Hyara squinted into the darkness, trying to match what she saw now with what Gink's eyes had shown her. She pointed to a hut ahead and left of the group, just visible through the dark and the mushroom trunks. A torch guttered in front of it and a Lost One fidgeted in the flickering light.
Do you see the stump west of you about fifty paces with the small bush growing to the right of it? Gink asked suddenly.
Yes.
Aim about four feet from the ground barely to the left of the stump. Hurry.
Many years of training and practice brought her bow to her hands in a few silent seconds. The others froze in understanding. She let fly the arrow and with a wet thunk it came to a sudden halt in the air by the stump. The body of a Lost One materialized and slid slowly to the ground.
Palla and I are scouting a perimeter around you. It's safe to move closer now.
Hyara and Galmak both nodded at once and motioned toward the village. Galmak reached for her hand and squeezed it.
"They'd kill us if they saw us, love," he whispered. "They killed a lot of people at Zabra'jin for no good reason."
"I know…" They had once been draenei. They were revolting, twisted monsters now, but they had once been her people and she didn't have to like killing them.
There were no further warnings from Gink or Palla and the group moved up close behind the small hide-walled hut. From here the village seemed unnaturally still. Where were the preparations for an attack the tribe surely knew would come? Even the Lost Ones couldn't be stupid enough to believe that the Horde and the Alliance wouldn't retaliate. And yet all was quiet. The hut's single guard scratched idly in the dirt and muttered to himself.
Chetvek pulled the group in close. "We can cut through the back of the hut if we take the guard out first," he breathed. "Hyara, can you repeat what you did a few minutes ago?"
"I'll do it," Galmak said. He unslung his bow, but Hyara already had hers raised. Her face was set in hard lines as the arrow flew and the guard slumped silently forward.
Chetvek nodded and produced a small knife. "Here's hoping there's no guard inside," he said, and stabbed the knife through the hide wall. There was a faint noise inside, but no one rushed out to confront them and no alarm was raised. The tauren cut slowly and as silently as possible and after a few moments he'd made a hole large enough that Pellien would be able to crawl out of… assuming he was still inside. Chetvek tried to poke his head through to look but his long horns stopped him from getting far.
"Pellien?" he whispered into the darkness inside.
"Good of you to come after me," came the blood elf's voice.
Chetvek sighed in relief. "Well… can you get out?"
"If only I could… I'm tied."
Chetvek grunted and pulled his long muzzle out of the hole. "He's tied up in there, he can't get out on his own."
Hyara dropped to the ground and wriggled through; she was the only one of them who would fit. The interior of the hut was darker than the outdoors, but some light from the torch out front filtered through the seams and Hyara's wide eyes soon adjusted. Pellien sat against one wall, his hands tied over his head to a rope hanging down from the wood-beamed ceiling. Hyara pulled her dagger from its sheath and started sawing through the ropes.
"Well I'll be damned," said a voice behind her. She jumped and spun around. A small shape sat against the opposite wall, so small she'd mistaken it for a pile of blankets or a bulky bag. She saw now that the hands were tied as Pellien's were, but the rope down from the ceiling was much longer…
Good Light. "Split?" she asked hesitantly.
"That's me," the gnome said. "Hello again, Hyara."
"What are you doing here?" She sawed faster at Pellien's ropes, then moved across the tent and started to cut the gnome free.
"Oh gods," Pellien said, rubbing his wrists. "Don't let him lose. I've had all I can take."
"What I was doing here is spying on these filth-bags," the gnome answered. "You would not believe whose bed they've jumped into." Split slid nimbly out the hole in the tent and Hyara heard a stifled yelp outside. She wriggled out after him. Chetvek had the rogue by the back of his shirt and was glaring at the now-dangling gnome.
"What exactly is this?" Chetvek said.
"He's… er, he's a friend," Hyara answered. "His name's Split."
Split was craning his neck as if looking for something, and his eyes fell on Galmak. "There!" He pointed, then looked at Hyara. "There's your orc. He knows me too, dontcha, orc?"
Hyara cringed. Gods, he did know then, all along.
Galmak peered at the gnome. "Oh. It's that rogue from the caravan in Hellfire, yeah."
"If you tell your cow to put me down I can tell you what's going on around here." Split swung his stubby legs.
"The 'cow' speaks Common; ask him yourself," Chetvek said.
"Oh, sorry… Okay, can you put me down now?"
The tauren opened his hand and the gnome plunked to the ground.
"If you're all done making noise, we might want to get the hell away from here before someone finds us," Zarguhl said. They crept after the Mag'har back toward where they'd left their mounts. Split faded into the darkness and Hyara wondered if they'd see him again, but a few minutes later he appeared up ahead. He was bending over the corpse of a Lost One, wiping his daggers.
"Bastards kept me tied up in there for three days." He spit on the body.
"What's this about something going on around here?" Galmak muttered to Pellien. "Is there something beyond a bunch of Lost Ones making idiotic moves against stronger enemies?"
The mage rolled his green eyes. "He'll tell you. Believe me, he'll tell you. I had to hear all about it. It seems very unlikely to me, but I suppose it might be worth looking into." Pellien gave Galmak a sidelong glance. "Hyara isn't really your slave, is she?"
Galmak grimaced. There was really no point in denying it anymore; Zarguhl would have to be pretty dense not to have figured it out by now too. "No," he said simply.
They reached the mounts and the orc sent a question out to Palla.
Yes, you're safe there for now, she replied.
"Alright," Galmak said when they'd gathered into a small circle. "What is it that we need to know about the Daggerfen?"
Split glanced around uneasily as if he were having second thoughts about putting so much trust in a bunch of Horde. His eyes fell last on Hyara and he seemed to make up his mind. He took a deep breath. "Alright. This concerns everybody, Alliance and Horde. We're all pretty well aware of how stupid most Lost Ones are, but this time they've really gone and done it. They're being used. Big time. By the Legion." There were noises of consternation and disbelief from everyone but Zarguhl and Pellien. The mage sighed.
"I hope somebody's planning on filling me in," the Mag'har grumbled in orcish.
"Sorry," Hyara said. "I'll translate."
"I left several days ago from Orebor Harborage," Split continued. "They'd heard about some unusual Lost One activity recently, and they'd heard the Horde was interested in it too. So I decided to check it out. 'Unusual' was an understatement. Do you know what I found in Daggerfen Village?" The rogue paused and twitched his bushy green eyebrows. "Their chieftain has a Legion communications device. That's not all he has either. There are demons in that village."
"What!" Chetvek exclaimed. "How could there be demons in Zangarmarsh? The Burning Legion has no presence here."
"That's what I thought too," Split nodded. "But that's what I saw. They've got a small army of demons hiding in their bigger buildings. And it was growing too, from what I could see. There were more each time I checked."
Hyara's eyes met Galmak's. "The Horde, and probably the Alliance, is coming here tomorrow to fight the Daggerfen," she said. "Gods… they're going to come prepared to fight a disorganized tribe of Lost Ones and run straight into a Legion army."
"Instead of fighting the Horde and the Alliance at their own strongholds where they're better prepared, the Legion lures them out here to fight what they think is a weak enemy… Where could the Legion be getting that army from? Is there a transporter here somewhere?" Galmak shifted nervously and double-checked Palla's sense. All was quiet for now.
"Portal Clearing." They all looked at Zarguhl. The Mag'har's face was twisted in disgust.
"Oh no… Surely not? That would be bad… that would be very bad indeed." Chetvek shook his shaggy head ponderously.
"They caught me before I could figure out where their reinforcements were coming in from. Their Common was complete shit, but I think they thought I'd make some kind of a good-faith present for the Legion- an Alliance member to hand over. Probably the same deal for him." The rogue gestured to Pellien.
The mage sighed again. "I didn't see any of this myself. It all sounds very alarmist to me. How are we to believe this gnome?"
That thought had crossed Galmak's mind, but he was remembering the incident on the Path of Glory. Split had found the felguard camp when none of the rest of them could have. That had resulted in a major blow to the Legion's plans; plans which would have been disastrous to the Horde and the Alliance if they'd been allowed to come to fruition. If the gnome was right again, this would be just as disastrous. Or even worse.
"What is this Portal Clearing?" Hyara asked.
"One of the original portals that helped rip Draenor apart," Zarguhl said heavily. "The Legion used them to get their demons here. That one's supposed to be just a dead chunk of stone now, but if the Legion managed to get it working again we're all in deep shit." The brown orc slumped to the ground and leaned against a trunk.
There was silence for a moment. Then Chetvek cleared his throat. "We have to get warnings out."
"We've also got to check out this Portal Clearing," Galmak said. "If they're still bothering with using the Lost Ones they can't have a huge army at their disposal yet. Maybe the portal still isn't very reliable. Maybe they haven't got it working very well yet."
"Alright." Chetvek took a deep breath of the damp air. "Split… you're the obvious choice to warn the Alliance since they sent you to investigate-"
"Hey, I went 'cause I wanted to-"
"- and someone will have to return to Zabra'jin."
"It has to be you," Pellien said. "They put you in charge of figuring this out because they trust your judgment. They won't believe this fantastical story from any of the rest of us."
Chetvek snorted and stamped the ground in frustration. He looked at Galmak. He didn't want to leave his friend in such a dangerous situation, but Pellien was right. "Alright. I'll return to Zabra'jin, Split will go to Orebor Harborage, and the rest of you will investigate Portal Clearing. Only an investigation. You understand that?" He looked around at the group and they nodded. "We all need to move fast. We have very little time."
"You'll have to take my horse, Split. I'll ride with Galmak, Pellien will have to ride with Zarguhl." Hyara handed over the reins. The rogue swarmed up into the saddle, waved a silent farewell, and disappeared with a splash of hooves in the darkness. Chetvek's kodo swayed in sympathy with its master's nervousness and urgency.
"Go with the Earth Mother, my friend," the tauren whispered to Galmak. "Take care of yourself and the rest of them."
"And you also, Vek." The men grasped hands and then they were off into the heavy wet night.
