Disclaimer: Warcraft not mine….. My math even worse

A/N: Heh, you people were all expecting a tearful reunion between troll and human but then I turn the tables on you. That's not even the best twist that I have for this. Oh ho ho! But onto some Reader Replies…

To Armiece, am I really that evil .:malicious laughter:. No, but seriously everyone's reactions were great! So pleasing! And that's good to know. I was hoping that some undead would have feeling. I seem to have trouble writing those things without any character.

Sorry Oreo, I don't think that'll be happening any time soon. Unfortunately for you I seem to be at the type of crossroads where cliffhangers are all I do. I suppose you could say Mekora 'lived', he certainly didn't die… I suppose. 0.o

Hope you enjoyed your nap Crimson. This chapter is quite head splitter as well. The reasoning for all my madness shall soon be revealed. I sometimes mean to write a sad story but this one is more uplifting and a brain-worker than anything else. I hope Raincaller will make you all think.

Well Old Guy if Armeice is correct than I am writing them correctly. Or maybe not. My undead have feeling I guess, that's the way it'll be. Besides, Thralk has to be suitably evil while having his own motives and I can't pull that off when there are no emotions in him.

Youkai you are always so perceptive. I expected someone to find some kind of fault with my idea of distributing weight. My science has never been that great. I did, of course, forget to mention that the ride which Var'Jun and Yawna took on the poor mount was rather slow. True, Mekora weighs hardly anything, so I thought that the cat could be light on it's feet while Gwyn was seated on it and Yawna could ride on the cart. This was to make them go a bit faster, because speed was the key there. I thought about making Yawna steer the mount and Gwyn go travel form but I figured Yawna couldn't ride. Hopefully that makes some sense. And as for fowl, I was tired that night and not thinking. But thanks for pointing that out, it has been changed because it's just too annoying to stay there.

Well Blood and Honor you seem to have gotten very perceptive. I was wondering if someone would guess amnesia, it was somewhat a rather obvious approach but I did try and make the finding of everyone else quite easy so you'd be mislead on Kat. Btw, the e-mail is working. Try and create one there if it messes up again, it's free and easy.

And geeze Geolord, Samus, and Star Wolf sure are mad at me.

Alright now!

Chapter Twenty-Three: Onslaught

Katherine Blackwell was definitely one of the most fearsome and sensible women of all the refuge camp. She was also the most sought after. Ever since the gingery-haired youth had been found by the fire patrol she had become a valuable asset to the people that she now called her family. Katherine was a strong woman, hardly anything could tear her down. But the refugees noticed a distinct change in their healer and leader. After she had seen that troll she hadn't quite functioned right.

Only five minutes after the guards were sure that the Horde warrior had left they returned to report that he had not put up a fight. Katherine announced feeling rather ill and nobody could blame her, a few remarking how strong she was even after being embraced against her will by the disgusting creature.

"If you don't mind me asking, Ms. Blackwell, what's gotten into your mind?" A curious cook asked softly as the pronounced woman entered the mess hall for a change of pace. Watching the refugees children could be straining. Though she looked rather dazed the priestess smiled at her warmly before shaking her head.

"Seems like I've met him is all." she replied quietly. The human busied herself in the kitchen as if to show that she was done with the cooks questions. The young woman shrugged and continued her work.

"You've met him?" The cook piped up again much to Katherine's dislike. She pursed her lips and continued with her charming smile.

"No, no, it just seemed like that. I was just having some sort of déjà vu." The priestess didn't really want to recall the strange sensation of the lanky troll's arms around her. It was almost to much to think that it seemed familiar.

"But you don't recollect your old memories, madam, what if you did know him."

"Well I highly doubt that." Katherine left the kitchen. The cook was too much, she would have to find some other place to spend her time thinking.

Katherine closed her eyes as she exited the vast mess hall and tried to recall where she remembered that warm embrace. Most of her was revolted by the fact that he had even dared to come close.

There was a far more disturbing side to what had taken place. Katherine Black could not understand a single word of orchish. But she had understood what she thought was her own name, 'Kat' slip in-between the heavy orchish language spilling from the troll's mouth. How had he known her name?

A few of the town's bachelors perked up as they saw the pretty female exit the kitchens. They were all honorable and brave men if not a little assertive and slightly insensitive. James Torrent, the unspoken leader of the pack, was leaning smoothly against a fence and grinning wolfishly.

"Katherine," He purred, "Out here all alone. You know, there's this perfect spot to-"

Katherine was about to throw an excuse his way when she stopped. Something caught her eye though and she turned from the polished man to see what the flickering lights were.

Fire.

"Are you sure?" Var'Jun growled disapprovingly as the undead rogue nodded and continued to test the air with his sunken, rotting nose.

"I sense it too." Yawna put in after a couple of seconds of standing with closed eyes. "But I'm not sure if it's a lot of undead or just something really huge."

"Like an abomination?" Gwyn asked.

"Bigger."

The elf blanched.

A plume of sudden flames shot from in-between two massive oak trees. The fire ate everything in it's path, desecrating leaves and branches.

"Well, well, well." Thralk's voice oozed through the trees, "Imagine seeing you here."

The Forsaken rebel was once again his cool polished self. All the rage he had possessed had been toned down to a controlled flame that could be fed and blazed at any interval. He emerged through the brush, a decayed smile glittering on his lips and making his face crack and contort as if the movement of his mouth was splitting his face in half. He was dressed in armor of bone and gravestone, dark grey and blanched white in a matte danger. Over this was thrown robes of a hued deep, dark red like congealed blood.

The summoner was astride what Yawna recognized immediately as the Demon Wolf that had caused so much grief. It had gotten larger though, strangely more powerful and evil looking. Flames now licked out white hot from it's body though they didn't seem to affect the summoner at all. Yawna did notice with some pride, however, that the femur bone that she had stolen years back was still missing. The demon was now far, far bigger than the riding wolves that orc favored and it's head was so massive that Yawna could hardly see Thralk.

Yawna turned to see what Gwyn, Var'Jun, and Mekora would make of this. They had admitted once to not seeing the beast and it must appear to them that Thralk was floating on air.

But the Tauren was surprised to see that Gwyn's face was a mask of fear, Var'Jun set in a way that made her think he was ready for any battle at all, and Mekora's so horrified that if the rogue was still alive he probably would have been crying.

"Ah yes, Yawna, I believe I have something that belongs to you." Thralk guided the Demon Wolf so that the massive creature of fire and bones had shifted sideways. Yawna gasped as she saw what Thralk had meant and her breath grew angry and sick.

"You bastard."

"Watch your mouth in front of the children." Thralk rebuked and petted the small figure that was sitting miserably behind him. Yawna recognized the troll girl immediately. Her long ponytail of messy red hair and slight features had been etched into the huntress's memory.

Milla had not lost her optimistic attitude. Though she looked afraid and perturbed that she was near Thralk she still smiled when she spotted Yawna.

"Mommy?"

"It's a shame her friends didn't make it though. You see, when only you, Yawna, and I could see the wolf it was hardly any use for intimidation. The wolf has a taste for child's blood, though, and young Toni and Alfor were the perfect candidates.

Yawna let out a broken sob and tears of frustration, anger, and sorrow had beaded at the corners of her eyes.

"You're a monster."

"If that is so," Thralk looked rather indifferent, "Then we are both monsters. The power granted to you is just as dangerous as the power granted to me."

Yawna hissed softly before ripping the bone axe out of it's sheath. Her hands trembled, square teeth bared angrily at the summoner. He in turn gave her a glittering grin which once again ripped his face in half and looked more as if he were sneering triumphantly.

"Go on." Thralk quietly slipped off the edge of the bone wolf, carrying Milla with him and clicking what was left of his decaying tongue at the wolf. The beast seemed to almost nod before sauntering off in the opposite direction.

"Go on," Thralk repeated, the sentiment apparently directed at Yawna instead of his demonic dog, "Throw it at me, strike me with it. I can hardly wait for the death by your hand."

Yawna shook violently, breath ragged and harsh. She sobbed with wrath as the bone axe slipped back into it's sheath. Yawna could maim, could not kill. It was the wrong world for her to be in.

"Coward." Thralk sneered.

At that moment Var'Jun snapped. It might have been the fact that Milla was his own kind and her fear was eating away at him. It might have been that fact that she was just a child and he felt compassion for her innocence. It could have been his own pain from finding out what Kat had become or just how much he hated Thralk. Either way, the troll had lost control.

Var'Jun ripped out his sword, Fury blazing a tinted red in his eyes. He lunged at the summoner with the broad blade tilted and aimed at the undead's head.

The summoner hissed, only having enough time to drop the child and duck before the steel went whistling over his head and into a tree behind him. Milla scampered away from the feuding pair and rushed to hide behind Yawna.

Thralk's balled fist collided heavily with the warrior's stomach and winded him. While the troll gasped for air the undead shoved his bony hands around the prince's neck. Loss of oxygen made the troll weak and he stumbled with the hindrance.

"I'm going to find your little human girlfriend." Thralk hissed almost lovingly into the troll's ear, "And then I'm going to give her straight back to where she originally belonged. There are many more like Kolkua, you know."

Var'Jun growled through his broken breath.

"Or who knows. She's a rather pretty thing. I might take a-"

The summoner never finished the sentence. Var'Jun's hand, long nails splayed, connected with the Forsaken's face and began to rip away at the decaying matter. Thralk had not anticipated such strength from the air-starved troll and he let go immediately to shield his countenance from the onslaught.

Var'Jun's red-tinted eyes narrowed and he leapt at the summoner completely ignoring his sword that had stuck into the tree and the fact hat he was unarmed. The undead and troll began to fight almost madly, not bothering to deflect each other's blows. Instead they sought to rip each other's skin off, nails and teeth doing the job quite nicely.

Thralk grabbed something that was bright. In a mind in which Fury reigned Var'Jun could hardly comprehend what the summoner had in mind with that. The troll understood only when Thralk shoved the lit branch into the prince's hand and it burnt.

Var'Jun howled and backed away from the Forsaken, Fury not altogether gone but sedated slightly. When he looked up he saw the trees were alit with golden flames. Yawna was summoning water from the ground, her hands flying as she deflected the branches that were starting to fall and threatened to hit the travelers.

"C'mon troll!" Gwyn snarled as she grabbed Var'Jun by the collar of his leather tunic. When the troll looked back Thralk had disappeared. All that was left were a few blood stains and pieces of his blood-hued robe.

As Gwyn yanked him by Var'Jun tore his sword from the tree. Slightly perturbed by the fact that he had easily gone into such a Fury he straightened himself up and joined back with the crowd.

"He's obviously set the village on fire," Yawna was saying as he regrouped, "Do we go back and help or not."

The tauren was looking at Var'Jun. He seemed lost, however, staring at the little troll hiding behind Yawna's feet.

"We flee." Gwyn put in strongly. This was met by a few mutters and the night elf sighed as well, "I know, but I think it's for the best. Besides what are we going to do if we lose one of us again? Hopefully Kat will make it out okay and live the life she probably should have before any of this happened to her. If she can escape this… well… it's probably fated she is not with us anymore."

"Where's the mount?" Mekora asked suddenly.

"She ran off, poor thing. I think her tail was on fire but she'll make it. She'll go back to the night elves, all Nightsabres know the way. They'll take care if her."

At that moment mass confusion struck. Men and women from the village came pouring out of the trees, their struggling madness to escape their burning deaths causing them to totally miss the small group. They did bump into them though, roughing and tousling them so that they were headed away from the village as well.

Daylight broke through the tree cover and the people poured out into the edge of the woods. Surprised as anyone to find themselves there Yawna's companions winced at the sight of Stormwind in the distance. They had been on the wrong side of the refugee camp.

"What do we do?" Yawna hissed.

"We run sideways, east, so that we reach the shore in the east. There's no way we can chance being near Stormwind."

It was decided. Var'Jun cast one last piteous look at the group of humans. He wanted to see Kat leaping out of them, carrying on in her annoyed tone and trying to be mad at him even with the affection that had always laced her voice. But he saw none of this, only the flames eating away at the portion of Elwynn forest.

Katherine stumbled in the flames. She had lost all sense of direction. Her skin was beginning to bake, her throat tighten, her lungs clog. There was hardly any way for her to tell where she was going and the truth stood that she was actually heading into Elwynn instead of towards the refuge of Stormwind.

In her stumbling Katherine's arms outstretched to the ground. Suddenly her hands connected with fur. Too panicked of the fire to be frightened of this new creature she held on tight. The silken fur below her fingertips shifted as the muscles tightened and the animal began to head the other way. Katherine followed it.

For what seemed to be forever the beast guided her through the conflagration. Finally she felt cold air on her face and the embers receded behind her.

Katherine could now see a bit better. She down, her vision still a bit blurry, to see what had saved her. It was an old wolf, grey and black with a white-peppered muzzle and deep golden eyes. It looked up at her, almost humanly smiling with it's tongue lolling out.

Katherine pet it's head absently while she looked into the distance. It was not what she expected. Her blurred sight revealed what she thought was a plain of nothing, a small black smudge on the horizon a city… or something else. She could hardly take chances.

"Where can I go?" the priestess asked herself softly. The wolf yipped a return and began to once more pull ahead. The human followed it, what choice did she have?

It was a long time before Yawna and her group felt safe enough to stop. Stormwind had receded from view a while back cloaked by trees and the horizon. The travelers were exhausted and they began to set camp.

Var'Jun sighed as he picked his teeth with a small twig.

"It's just not fair, you know. It's not fair at all." No one remarked upon this and the troll continued, "Why can does Thralk keep on winning. He's the evil one."

"Because this is not a fairy tale." Gwyn replied testily, "Good hardly ever wins."

"Thralk's fighting for what he believes in." Yawna remarked quietly, "In his eyes we are the evil ones." This was greeted with silence. Yawna shook her head and looked back at Milla. The little troll was asleep in the middle of Var'Jun and herself rolled up in Gwyn's cloak.

A few twigs snapped in the distance. Var'Jun stopped tending to the meat they had thrown over the fire (and the few roots that Yawna had managed to dig up) to listen. Gwyn notched an arrow and Yawna's hand rested on the hilt of the axe.

A wolf's slender muzzle poked through the underbrush. This was followed closely by the familiar golden eyes and perky, tattered ears.

"Weary Traveler!" Yawna cried out with joy. She leapt up and began to pet the wolf furiously, scratching behind his ears and under his chin. The old wolf was just as overjoyed as his master and yipped softly.

"Oh god, the wolf took me to you of all people." Kat was behind the pet. She narrowed her eyes as she spotted Mekora though she didn't seem to see Var'Jun yet. He was almost partially hidden behind the fire and he froze as he saw the priestess.

But there was something in the priestess's voice. It was tired and slightly strained. After a few seconds of looking around the camp fire the priestess rolled her eyes to the sky and feinted dead away.

"Well…" Var'Jun said after a moment, "At least she's not dead…"

Kat was tended to ask best they could. Most of her feinting was attributed to the fact that she was exhausted and had inhaled a lot of smoke. She was made comfortable though and soon after the small group had eaten and they had chosen sleeping spots the night's guard was chosen.

"I don't want to be first," Var'Jun pouted, "What if she wakes up when I'm watching. She hates me." Var'Jun's usual pouting was underplayed with a true sadness and frustration.

"That's the point." Yawna replied patiently, "We suppose she'll wake up in the middle of the night. You're only taking about a quarter of it."

Var'Jun snorted.

"Fine, I'll take it. But if she wakes up I'm getting one of you." With that Var'Jun spun on his heels and went to go sit along the edge of the camp.

"What have you seen?" Yawna knew that look in Gwyn's eyes.

"I'm not sure. It's blurry, but hopeful." Gwyn would say no more.

Var'Jun sat for a long while in silence. His mind was writhing and seething. He should have known that fate wouldn't have let him rest. It had never before. The troll sighed and looked back at Kat.

She was sleeping soundly, a calm expression on her face. She was serene, pristine as she always was and what Var'Jun had been waiting two years for. His heart tightened. It really didn't have to be like that, did it?

"Loa, what have you done to me?" Var'Jun demanded suddenly. His teethe tightened in his jaw and he slowly picked himself up and sat down next to the priestess. He couldn't help himself.

"Why Don't you remember me?" Var'Jun whispered softly, "What happened to you?"

"Ugh." It was the only sound the human could manage. She woke from the drowsy state she had been in to see the troll leaning over her with a pained expression on his face.

"What are you doing?" she finally demanded in a hissing voice that resonated with anger.

"Nothing." Var'Jun snarled back, defensive despite his feelings towards her.

"Fine."

There was a long silence before the troll heard her shifting. She stood and came up behind the sitting troll, breathing down his neck and making him uncomfortable. Finally she sat down near him, not very close because it appeared she was still disgusted, but it was rather close to him.

"Why?" she demanded suddenly with such venom in her voice that the caustic anger made the troll wince and look at her. She was staring at the stars though, her face disturbed and teeth tight.

"Eh?" was all Var'Jun could manage to gag out.

"Why?" She demanded again and with even more vehemence than before, "Why do I dream about you?"

"You… you what?"

"I dream about you," she was dangerously quiet, "I see your face. And you know what? I hate it." With that she stood up once again and laid back down where she had been sleeping beforehand.

After a long moment of silence the troll hunched his back miserably before adopting a cheerful façade and replying.

"Good night then."

I'm very sorry that took so long everyone. I've been making my Anime Music Video and I've had some pretty severe writer's block. But I'm on vacation this next week Wends-Sat so please bare with me.