Disclaimer: As stated under section 5D under subsection 11A and prior to the articles 3 mentioned in section 9L and paragraph X I do not own Warcraft and that I am longwinded.

A/N: An apology. It has taken me a very long time to come with this new chapter. This can be attributed to my history teacher, or rather my procrastination at starting a project due tomorrow which I had six weeks to do. Yes, it was foolish of me, but it came out well. Also that this week has been… trying, for lack of a better word. Enough excuses, down to business.

Youkai, you and me both. Murlochs are a real pain, specially when there are a whole lot of them. Sheesh, one problem after the next.

Samus nice to know you're so flexible. It's always good to hear people are absorbed, that means I've done my job right.

Darn you got the fish back Dragoness. Oh well, bigger fish to fry (no pun intended). 0.o No that was weak. Anyhow, yes you'll be surprised with Malchior in this chapter. He has taken on a new level of pain-in-the-ass. A shame. No, Var'Jun's still here. It's way too early in the story for anything such as that. And yes, my ex is a -bleep-. Good of people to know.

Sorry about that Kyn, it was actually supposed to be 'disk.' If you look back you can see I fixed it. That was just too bad to leave there. You guys always make me feel better .:fuzzy:. Thank you!

Yep Crimson, it's the truth. I ripped him a new one though. Anyhow, you better be getting sleep. School's important, I'm still in it anyhow. And yes, hundreds might have been a bit of a stretch (author's license) but still pretty close.

Wow, 60+ reviews. I feel so loved!

Chapter Sixteen: The Brittle Truth

For a moment there was a strange silence that seemed to be able to stretch itself over the whole camp, an elastic skin ripping the breath from lungs. Then the Murloc clicked, stepping forwards on grotesque legs and pushing a spear into Yawna's space. It aimed for her throat, the creature talking in broken sentences that Yawna shouldn't have understood, but did.

"Keep you quiet, yah? Lotsa Murloc here bouts, big numba gonna gitcha. No screamin, hear? Cow stays small voice, okay?" It smiled, a few of the other Murlochs slipping forth slowly. They were like nature's mistake, giving weapons to some of the dumbest creatures it could. Frogs no less.

Yawna paused, her hand quivering over the gun handle. In a moment she could have blown the ability to talk and function right out of this evolutionary joke. But the destructive gun made her Awareness hiss and whisk backwards as if struck. She nodded, staying silent.

One of them tripped over Var'Jun's leg. The troll awoke with a start, his hands groping for his sword in the dark. He swore as he spotted the Murloc, his weak arms failing to raise the impossible broad sword that he had claimed as his weapon.

Kat was close to the troll, she woke now to, trying desperately to summon the blue fire to her hands. But magic failed as the Murloc's spear pushed into her chest, the blade tickling right above her heart. Var'Jun made a small growling noise, his hands trying once again to raise his sword despite the fact that another new spear was dancing in his face.

"Murlochs," Gwyn spit as she was woken, her nose wrinkling disdainfully. She had not been a far ways away from Yawna and now her voice was easily carried to the tauren's ears. "We're in trouble now. Ugly toads."

"Hey, hey, hey." The same Murloc who held Yawna clicked, "Marakaka not toad. Quiet long-ears. Small voice. Marakaka make short work of you yah? Big metal guy you wake him up now." The last was directed at another Murloc standing close by the armored man.

"Damn them and their clicking." Gwyn growled as Malchior was awoken, "If they're going to attack someone they ought to learn their language."

"You couldn't understand them?" Yawna asked quickly.

"You could?" Gwyn looked startled, but it was then that something went horribly wrong.

Instead of threatening Malchior the Murlochs patted him on the back or clicked their approval. They were smiling, gleaming teeth spitting from their cracked jaws. Malchior in turn was nodding, apparently their patting was not quite comfortable with him but he was smiling as well nonetheless.

"Malchior?" Kat demanded, "How could you?" Her eyes were hollow and cold, beside her Var'Jun giving another animal-like growl. The priestess watched the paladin as if she had been struck by him.

"All for you, my dear Katherine." he replied, pointing to her an nodding erratically to the bipedal frogs ((A/N: There you go Dragoness)). They paused for a moment, then moved their spears down so that Kat could have moved. However they snatched her up, slimy hands forcing her to stand and move towards Malchior.

"Get your hands off her." Var'Jun snarled, red creeping into his eyes. A touch of the Fury battered the troll's mind. Yawna could feel it creeping into his conscience without his consent.

"Metal guy takes little girly, yah? Fair trade, fair trade. Metal guy goes now. We take group now yah. Marakaka bring to Chief, much food for him now." The Murloc, Marakaka, steadied himself on his spear. Malchior made no inclination the he had heard, gripping Kat's arms with a vice-like grip.

That troll had to be quickly retrained, his breath ragged and weak. Malchior began to laugh softly as the weakened warrior snarled and spit, clawing at the Murloc's arms and legs and biting whatever came into his range. This continued until one of the Murlochs became fed up and stuck out with a small and wickedly curved fist. A few beads of blood welled up on the trolls lip and he slumped backwards.

"You're coming with me." Malchior hissed to Kat, then addressing Yawna, "Your nonsense and peace ends here and now. Let's see how long you last with the frogs here." He smiled, stepping away from the group and dragging a screaming Kat with him. Soon his figure was lost in the brush and trees.

"Bastard." Gwyn chewed out.

"Marakaka finish mouth words to all now. Gonna get up. Cow woman understand, you tell dem to wakey-wakey, stand for move feet. Brother sisters guide you, yah. Marakaka brings you Chief, aye." Marakaka sniffed and motioned with his spear, the broken language ringing in Yawna's ears first as the strange Murloc speech and then as orchish.

"They say get up." Yawna says wearily, her eyes full of terror. She hated being able to understand them, hated having to watch as her friends moved but also to feel their utter despair. Hated not being able to pull out her gun and fire away. Hated to feel the looming presence of the Murlochs. She hated the Awareness.

"We need to get Kat." Var'Jun spit as he stood. His lip was bleeding freely now, one tusk trickling with blood as it spilled form the open cut. He growled as the Murloc pushed him along but didn't stop them. He knew he hadn't the power right now.

"We can't." Gwyn said softly, "The most we can do right now is to remember that they can't understand our language and keep trying to think of a plan. We have no chance of escaping right now as it is."

Var'Jun hung his head, a soft groan escaping his lips. He clutched his side, the wound from Malchior still fresh and painful. He tottered along as the spears pushed behind him. Marakaka noticed his slowness and looked at Yawna with wide, unfeeling fish eyes.

"What wrong wit' wild mane big ears? He no feet move fast enough. Go slow and we kill him, yah yah. Big spear go good into his ears, chah." Marakaka brandished the spear to prove his point, "Maybe we makes him go faster, maybe we makes him no goes at all. You tell him go make fast."

"Var'Jun," Yawna winced as the Awareness enveloped his pain and brought it to her. The troll looked so lost. "They want you to move faster. You'd better." She closed her eyes as the troll looked to where Kat had disappeared, his eyes haunted and miserable.

The Murlochs prodded their unfortunate captors forward, Gwyn bristling like the cat that was her second form. She allowed to frogs to take her bow, shifting as they touched her shoulders and hips to make sure she had no other weapons concealed. Blades were kept close to the trio at all times as they underwent the same process.

Finally they were herded along. The forest gave way to small streams and tributaries that Yawna would have never guessed were there. It must have been from the runoff of Ironforge and all the spring water, but somehow Yawna feared it.

The Murlochs finally emerged from the dense brush and bush to a muddy clearing. There were a few barbaric, crude huts of that and sticks there. A few of the amphibious creatures toddled about, sharpening spears or stitching armor or cooking food. Yawna cringed at the sight of.

'They're growing smarter,' She thought to herself with awe and fear, 'Soon they'll be just as smart as we are and we'll pay for all the damage we've done. I… I can understand them. Whose to say there aren't more like me?'

"Gitcha gitcha inside now. Many Chieftain hours wait, yah? Make-a you not be waiting no longer. Chief Kalamika wanna be big chief with little human. Make more hold people of you." Marakaka pushed on Yawna with his spear a little the creatures face blinking and leering at her like some obscene fish. The huntress's hooves were pointed in the direction of a large, leather tent that looked as if it had been stolen and put up rather crudely again.

"Hey Yawna?" Gwyn asked as the tauren ignored Marakaka's jibe of 'no mouth words!' and listened to the druid. "Where did Weary Traveler get to?"

"He probably ditched us," Var'Jun glowered darkly from the other side of the elf, "I don't blame him either. We're going to end up as frog food."

"No, I think he was following Kat and Malchior for a spell, but he's around somewhere." No one questioned the tauren's word. Var'Jun wrinkled his nose though, snorting as the Murloc failed to comprehend the common tongue and blinked their dismay.

"Gitcha Chief Kalamika!" Marakaka ordered a nearby Murloc. It was young, scrambling on partially developed legs to get it's chieftain. Marakaka's throat swelled with pride and he coughed as if totally nonchalant about his great capture.

Another Murloc emerged from the tent. He was huge, with a great bulging throat and spines that ran up his back like the quills of a porcupine. His nostrils flared, taking in the scent of the intruders. As he walked he jangled, the many spines and edges to his body adorned with jewels and trinkets. Yawna winced as she noticed the crude stitching along the hem of his robes, but stitching nonetheless. The Murloc were getting smarter, and apparently they were moving inland as well.

"Big Chief Kalamika," Marakaka began, his arms swerving back to reveal his prisoners, "Marakaka take him news of good. We found bad people, yah, sittin' by de river, know? Make-a da big fight de did, but we wins."

"That's a lie," Gwyn mumbles as Yawna quickly retells the tale through the Murloc's mouth, but it is ignored by the troops.

"What da big ears doin' here?" The chief demanded suddenly. His face leered from the shadow created by the tent. Then Yawna noticed it, a large scar that traveled over the top of one of his eyes, permanently blinding the orb, and down under the eye and to his pointed chin. The cut had healed over long ago with purple flesh, something significant of Murloc scars and not exactly attractive to the females of the race. Especially on the face.

"I catch-a dem, bring to Chief Kalamika for the keep people. Big monies and land where them get sold, yah?" Marakaka was beginning to sweat. He gulped softly and tried to put on a smile but his chief's face was growing livid.

"Why you bring him troll?" Kalamika demanded again. He was livid now, a finger running over the marred flesh of his scar while the other reached out to grab a nearby, fleeting concubine that skittered from his sight . The creature looked extremely unhappy at the unconfident chief's grasping.

Var'Jun was trying to remain strong during all of this. He had on a very defiant face, wrinkling his nose and watching Yawna from the corner of his eye. Not more than once did Yawna see his hand move towards where his sword would have been. He knew just as well as she did that if they wanted to attack then they would most certainly prevail against the weak troll, pacifist hunter, and unarmed druid.

"I thinking just-"

"Filthy big ear!" the chief roared. He snarled, letting go of the small concubine and rushing forwards. In his hands was already a large pole arm, the long and wicked blade on the end glinted viciously. The point whistled through the air, only to have the handle very close to the blade caught by the troll just before it split open his face.

Gwyn and Yawna both tried to push forwards to stop this but were quickly held back by the guards. Likewise the Murloc around their chief pulsed forwards in an effort to strop the stalemated duelists.

"No, no, I slay him self." The chieftain roared. He pushed harder on the spear, angling it upwards so that it faced Var'Jun's heart. The troll pushed back, teeth clenched and eyes narrowed against the force.

Yawna felt Var'Jun through the Awareness. His heart was racing, mind reeling as he remembered his weakened strength. At first he pushed hard onto the spear, but as a second or two passed the tension began to slack. The troll was suddenly remembering Kat, that he might never see her again or have the chance to take his revenge on Malchior. He might never get the possibility to avenge his mother's death or be a strong leader to his people. He might never be the leader his mother of father were.

The troll let go of the spear. He welcomed death, welcomed it with open arms. Var'Jun felt his problems too great, his significance too small. A cry tore from Yawna's lips and she immediately felt the Awareness respond with strength. It burst from her minds and traveled down to her hands where she could clench it like a solid thing and mold it to her will. Yawna had never felt so superior, so powerful in her life and though this scared her she knew that it also gave her the power to save and heal. Yawna raised her hand with a motion that seemed to freeze the world.

In the split second that Var'Jun welcomed himself to death and Kalamika's spear drove forwards the water under their feet began to gather. When Yawna raised her hand it rushed up, creating a wall in front of the troll that carried with it small particles of rock and vegetation. The wall that formed was clear, tinted slightly with sunspots from where the water had formed and cast light in all directions. The spear hit it with a tangible sound, smacking off the deluge and coming backwards with a shock that traveled down the Murloc chief's arm. The noise it made was that of hitting a tankard of water or water cooler, a bubbly, underwater sound that took on the quality of floating in the air.

Kalamika exclaimed in disbelief, hitting the wall once more as if to make sure he was not imagining it. Var'Jun grunted softly, his eyes flicking to Yawna straight away. She did not look back at him though, instead staring directly ahead of her with eyes that were once hazel and now turned cool blue. They glowed with a light that even Gwyn's could not match, a serene peace that cloaked a disturbing violence underneath.

"Miragaka." the small concubine hissed after a moment. In seconds she was kneeling on the ground, her face practically pressed into the mud. Her mouth was moving as a blur, words that sounded like clicks and mutterings to Gwyn and Var'Jun turned to prayers for Yawna's ears. The Murloc clasped her hands above her head, fear emitting from her body as well as awe and surreal disbelief.

"Miragaka." the cry was taken up amongst the nearer Murloc. At that point Yawna seemed to snap out of her strange state. She looked around, blinking at the wall of water and the crowd of Murloc that were now kneeling on the ground. The name was spread like wildfire until all Murloc in the camp were kneeling but the chief.

"Miragaka." He too pantomimed, his eyes wide and cold, "Goddess Miragaka?" The chief went down onto one bended knee, the spear dropped from his hand. The guards behind Var'Jun and Gwyn both went down as well so that the two could move freely, Var'Jun backing up from the water wall as if it were painful to stand near.

The chieftain began to speak again, his voice clicking and chattering away like an angry squirrel's. Var'Jun and Gwyn exchanged glances in turn as they watched Yawna's eyes widen in shock and disbelief. She kept shaking her head, back pedaling slightly and holding up her hands. The wall of water fell back into the muddy ground. The same clicking words fell from Yawna's lips in syllables of protest and surprise.

"What's wrong Yawna?" Gwyn asked as soon as Kalamika fell silent. The Murloc still kneeled none daring to move from the ground in the presence of the confused tauren.

"They say," Yawna said very softly as if she could hardly believe that the words were coming out of her mouth, "They say that I'm their goddess. Miragaka. They say I've come to save them, to control the water and rid them of the humans that have stolen their land."

Not very long ago Yawna had believed she and her comrades were to die. They had never been able to overpower large groups when they were at full power. And now with the absence of Kat, Var'Jun's weak and heart broken strength, and the faith sucked from Yawna's souls she thought it would be truly a miracle if they all breathed that night. But low and behold they were there, all three crouching in a small Murloc hut surrounded by guards willing to protect their goddess.

"We have to find Kat and Malchior," Var'Jun argued again, his tone a steely one. The troll's eyes were pleading Yawna more than Gwyn, his antagonist. He was clutching his side, the wound sending stabbing pains up his spine as well as the worry of his bleeding heart.

"Look, it's not as if we can just walk from this hut and leave the Murloc. They think their goddess has come to save them from the traders on the river that drove them away. If anything they'll forcibly stop us if we try to leave. Even if Elune herself descended from the clouds and demanded leave an hour later I don't think the elves would allow her to leave." Gwyn looked to Yawna, something in her eyes making the tauren shake.

Yawna was still deeply affected by her finding of the moon. It was not the goddess that Yawna's people or Gwyn's people had said it was. Just a cold, floating rock. The way Gwyn said this with conviction made the tauren feel guilty all over again. That was not the only thing. Gwyn's look taught Yawna another thing. The elf looked at her not as an equal but someone beyond and mortal principles. She could wield magic mages only dreamed they could ever taste.

"I'm sorry Var'Jun." Yawna said, almost breaking down as she watched the troll mentally collapse, "But Gwyn's right. If I just walk out now they're most likely to be angry and hostile. We'll have to find another way."

At that moment they were interrupted. A loud Murloc voice began chattering outside. It screamed first, then made a small growling noise before yelling again.

"They demand to see us." Yawna translated quickly. Var'Jun found her gift of tongues disturbing and Gwyn saw it eerie at best. Yawna couldn't escape the look in their eyes.

They exited the crude hut again. A heavy Murloc was flanking another much smaller and aged specimen. But beside that was another female, one smaller than most and a strange, luminous blue color that seemed to shift and move.

"Dat not Miragaka. Dis is. You see her ya? She not Murloc, she cow woman from plains water not and da big tall rocks with da heads of flat. Miragaka is this one." the elder pushed the young blue female forwards and she stood tall and proud. Yawna busily translated, piecing the sentences together for her friends.

"Just because she water color mean she able control color water eh?" Chief Kalamika was Yawna's supporter and ignored as she translated The leader continued, "You say she Miragaka and even she name dat still not water control yah? Miragaka now control the water." The chief nodded and bulged his throat sac, a sign of power and prestige. The aged Murloc snorted.

"Whatchoo support for?" he demanded, "She might be friend sister wit humans, yah maybe? She want our land too. And we must be up here where water little. Water none almost. How long till we have that we dead all?"

At that moment there seemed to be more to say, but something else vowed for a position of speech. An arrow, deftly aimed and wickedly sharp, whistled through the air and leaves. The elder had time to turn to see it, the slow reflexes of mortal beings preventing the Murloc from moving. The arrow struck him dead between the eyes and he fell with a splash into the mud just as Yawna heard the cry.

"For the Alliance!"

Sorry about the terribly long wait. Lots of things going on in school, family, and friends. But don't worry, I'll try and get the next chapter out sooner because this was such a long wait. Gnomenasai, all. And don't worry, the next chapter is full to the brim with more action, suspense, and death. And you people like it, tsk tsk. Anyhow, pressed for time so until the next, Blood and Thunder all.