Chapter Two: Twist of Fate

"Ready! Move," Korojin commanded the grunts at Silverwind Refuge. "We need more lumber for our battle at Wyrmrest! Don't dilly dally!" Korojin was always one to bark orders at people. He, Pyronaptor, and Titanrage had been sent to Silverwind Refuge to help defend the place against incursions so that lumber production would increase for the coming battle. Koro was letting their position get to his head a bit.

"Koro, we be here as protection, not to wake up every Orc from here to Splintertree. Quiet down – it be da middle of da night and some of da grunts be gettin' sleep. I swear, you're gonna make Thunder Peak erupt again." Pyronaptor gestured to the now dormant volcano not far from the Refuge.

"I'm just trying to keep lumber production steady. No need to anger the Warchief." Koro responded.

"I bet he can hear you all de way in Orgrimmar, and he's pissed at you for waking him up." Pyronaptor chuckled at his own joke, Veloci rolled her eyes.

"Let's remember why we're here, friends." Titanrage spoke. "We're here to further the Horde war effort. Not to squabble amongst ourselves. I'm going to rest for the night. Koro, please don't wake me up, or Earthmother help me you'll be dangling off Thunder Peak when I awake." Titan and Pyro laughed, and Titan retreated into the Refuge.

"I'm surprised we ain't seen any elves yet, mon. On a normal night dey'd have come to stop us." Pyronaptor scratched his chin.

"They must know we're here, and know better than to attack this night." Korojin nodded to himself. "They're cowering under the sight of Hellscream's Watch. Shame. I was hoping we'd get some action tonight."

Hellscream's Watch was a bloodbath. The assault, led by Nel, was more than successful. They left nothing to show, not even the Wyverns were left alive. Ailyne would be arriving soon to heal the wounded and assist in the invasion against Silverwind. Nel stood with her blade embedded in an Orc skull, quite content with herself. Lull was next to her, murmuring a small prayer to the Light to watch over their fallen enemies and to bless them for the fight ahead.

"Why bother praying for these Orcs? They are the enemy, you know." Nel spoke to Lull.

"They still fought for their own kind, and what they believed in. They died with honor, and the Light will bless them in the afterlife." Lull smiled, and Nel shrugged.

Ailyne arrived at Astranaar first, where she met with some sentinels who gave her a short briefing. She got on her Nightsaber to ride up to Hellscream's Watch. Along the way, she was able to see many Orc corpses on the road. A frown showed upon her face. Was this what the Elves and Orcs were to be forever, and by extension, the Alliance and the Horde? To be mortal enemies who serve no purpose but to kill the other? It sure looked that way.

The air was filled with the scent of blood, and Ailyne could hardly stand it. She recognized Lull and Nel from across the Watch. Lull, who seemed as happy as always, and Nel, who was cleaning blood off of her Runehammer. As she approached, Lull looked up and saw her.

"Ailyne! Good day, you missed an honorable battle. We fought valiantly and Hellscream's Watch is ours." She opened her arms to embrace Ailyne, who gave a weak response.

"I can see that… So much bloodshed everywhere. Elune give me strength, I'm not used to this." She gave a small gag as she held back her food.

"Get used to it, Ailyne! You're going to be in a battle soon yourself!" Nel exclaimed excitedly. "Come nightfall, we're going to Silverwind. I hope you can use that thing." She gestured to the staff tied to Ailyne's back. "You're gonna need it."

Pyronaptor looked into the forest. It was deep and thick. Perfect predatory grounds, he thought. Everyone else in the Refuge had since retired to bed, save himself, Veloci, and a handful of grunts. He leaned lazily on his spear, and Veloci was lying on the ground by his feet. The night watch had been boring. Not a bird chirped, not a moth's wings rustled in the bushes. It was almost too quiet, Pyronaptor thought. As he – Wait.

"Wait a second." He sniffed the air. "Veloci, you smell dis?" The Raptor stood up and sniffed the air, and growled. "I smell it too…" He stood up, spear in hand, and released a Flare into the trees. If anything was hiding, the light of his Flare would give it away. Oddly, he saw nothing. He started to walk toward the forests to look, but was cut off my Veloci's roar. He looked to Thunder Peak, where a small army of Night Elves and Humans stood across the small river. His eyes widened, and he grabbed the horn off of his belt and blew it as hard as he could.

The thwang of arrows flying through the air echoed as the Night Elf sentinels released their payload. Pyronaptor cook cover, just as grunts and soldiers started to rise from their beds. Many of them looked outside to see a wave of arrows flying down onto the ground. Some were lit, setting fire to the lumber they had collected.

"Shamans! Put de flames out!" Pyronaptor started to give out orders.

"And here I thought you said not to wake the dead with yelling?" Koro said jokingly. "I've been waiting for this all day! Grunts, soldiers, to me! We fight them at Thunder Peak!" Many orcish grunts, now up from their beds, grabbed their battle axes and ran after Koro as they charged toward the small army at the peak. Axes and Swords clanged as Orc grunt met Human marine. Wyverns, awoken by the Flight Master, flew into the fray as well, some swooping to strike troops, some with Orcs on their backs as ranged support. Titan ran to Pyro, who was still giving orders at the Refuge.

"Pyro! What in the Earthmother's name is going on here!' Titan had his mace in his hand.

"Dis small army came out of de forest, using night to cover dem. No time ta be talkin', mon! Save your breath for de battle!" Pyronaptor and Titan leaped across the water. Titan swung his hammer, striking one marine in the chest and sending it flying across the battlefield.

Korojin was in the thick of it, killing marine after marine. His axes, imbued with wind and fire, struck blow after blow after blow. From across the battlefield, he spotted a Draenei with dark skin, who was fighting 5 Orcs at once – and winning. In a few strikes of her Runehammer, she fell 3 of them, and killed the other two soon after. She looked toward him, and they made eye contact.

"You will not see the light of another day, Shaman!" yelled the Death Knight. Korojin tried to resist, but was unable to fight against her as she bent the matter around him, yanking him clear through the air to her. He used the momentum from the pull to strike out with one of his axes, but the Death Knight was quick to act, parrying the blow. She leapt back a distance, and swung her sword in the air, sending a wave of disease and corruption toward him. He quickly stepped to the side, and what would have otherwise been a deadly spell merely grazed his right arm. He grinned. He was going to enjoy the challenge, and he charged at her.

Titan had made his own way onto the battlefield. He let out a loud, distorted cry and swung his hammer, spreading death and disease in his wake. In the name of the Earthmother, he let out a pestilence of disease throughout the battlefield. Alliance soldiers fell under the freezing fever or death. But there was a paragon of light not far that resisted his spread. He approached it, and saluted his new opponent. A scantily clad human, who radiated light - A Paladin. He slamed his hammer on the ground, and from it erupted a massive shockwave of decay and death. The glowing red substance licked and scratched at the Paladin's feet.

"I will not fall to you, Unholy monster!" She cried out, and let out a shock of holy energy. He buckled under the Light's power.

"By the Earthmother, I shall not falter under your false Light!" He charged, the runes on his hammer glowing profusely. He swung his hammer overhead. The human leaped backward to dodge the blow. When he looked up, a sword was coming right for him. He leaned to his right, putting the handle of his mace in the swing, parrying the blow. She left herself exposed, and he charged headfirst, attempting to gore the human with his horns. But his horns bounced off of her skin like plate armor.

"You are no match for the Light's protection!" She swung her fist in a low, uppercutting arc, striking him in the skin. it barely moved him. He was a Tauren after all. He laughed, and stomped his hoof deep into the ground. From there, a dark, diseased energy desecrated the ground around him.

"Your Light won't protect you on Unholy ground!" He swung his own fist, in a way similar to her, striking her in the jaw. This sent her flying into the air, and she landed on her back. She was quick to get back on her feet, and after a small, glorious, word of healing, she readied her sword for another assault.

Meanwhile, Pyronaptor had camouflaged. His skin color changed to the environment around him. He knew that with a fighting force this large, the Alliance had battle healers, and taking out the healers would take out their most powerful backing force. He spotted a Dwarven Shaman, who was casting spells to heal and strengthen his troops. Pyronaptor snuck up from behind, and drove his spear through the Dwarf's back. It stuck out of his chest, killing the dwarf in seconds. He threw the dwarf off of his spear and sheathed it, fading back into the color of the environment. He kept stalking around the battle to find all of the healers. If he could remove their magical forces, then the rest of the army would buckle beneath their might.

As he stealthily tip-toed across the base of Thunder Peak, he saw his next target – a Night Elf Priestess on the western end of the Field. He slowly approached, his spear in hand, ready to run it through her frail body.

The attack on Silverwind wasn't as successful as they would have hoped. Ailyne sat on the sidelines, sending out words of prayer to soldiers throughout the battle. She had lost Nel and Lull in the dust and blades, and had no intention of diving into the crossfire. They would be fine. They were powerful warriors. She looked over and saw the dead body of a Dwarf Shaman. She gagged at the sight - there was a hole in his back, and the ground ran red with his blood. He was beyond her help. She saw small indents in the ground where he was. Footsteps! It must have been a rogue!

"Rogue!" She cried out in warning to her allies. "There is a rogue-" She quickly turned around and brought her staff in front of her in a wide arc, parrying a stab from a long spear. The spear was being held by a troll, who, in an attempt to intimidate her, licked his lips exaggeratedly. She knew the Darkspear were no longer cannibals, so the attempt to fear her failed. She sent a wave of darkness into the trolls mind, assaulting him with thoughts of death and pain. He recoiled and leaped back. He stabbed his spear into the ground and pulled a bow off of his arm, and drew an arrow. Ailyne thought, "A hunter!" She was able to put up a shield around herself as an arrow flew through the air toward her. The arrow stopped and stuck itself in the shield. It began to crack, and fell away, the arrow harmlessly falling to the ground. The Troll scowled. Ailyne kept her eyes open for a beast - hunters were always accompanied by them. But she found none.

The Troll pulled his spear out of the ground and rushed toward her, ready to run her through. She had no choice but to parry again with her staff. The hunter quickly sheathed his bow around his chest and struck, time after time. And every time she was able to dodge or parry the strike. Then she let out a strike with her staff. After she parried a blow, it sent the spear up high. She used the opportunity and swung her staff wide, striking the troll in the side with it's length. He winced, but didn't falter, and grabbed her by the shoulders of her robes. He proceeded to fall backward - kicking her as he did. She was sent flying through the air, and she landed hard on a hill. She looked behind her, and there was a small drop. A drop that anyone could make, but to fall down ment injury. She looked to the troll, and grinned. The troll leaped at her, spear first.

She sidestepped, and the troll went flying down the fall. She turned around, content with herself. Now to return to healing the..

"AHH!"

She grabbed her shoulder, and went flying back. An arrow pierced her shoulder, poking out of the other side. Attached to the arrow was a rope, where the troll, standing at the bottom of the fall, had yanked to pull her down. She rolled down the hill, breaking the arrow out of her. She stood, her arm injured, unable to fight with her staff. She spoke a dark word, which ate away at the Troll's skin like fire. He backed up slightly, and looked around. There was another hill, with a much more significant drop, one that could be fatal if fallen wrong. He grinned. She kept flaying at his mind, but he wouldn't falter under her dark tricks. He leaped to the hill, out of her range of concentration. She pursued him, and cried out in pain again. A trap clamped around her leg, and the troll grinned again. Snakes began to erupt from where the trap bit her leg. She struggled to shake the snakes off, their venom was a powerful one. While she was distracted, the troll grabbed her again, and threw her as he did before, But this time, made sure she went over. And she did.

As she flew through the air, she twisted and turned, screaming, but her screams fell quiet under the clashing or blades and battlecries from the field above. The hunter leaped down the fall, using his spear to break his fall against tree branches as he approached the bottom. There she lay, panting, gasping heavily. She opened her eyes, and the troll grabbed her robe collar and put her onto her knees. From then, he took his spear and put it up to her neck. She closed her eyes, and waited for the dark, cold embrace of death to take her...