I own nothing. But I am hearing the hell out of WoW and WC 3's music at the moment.

Chasing Through Hell

Elusive Enemies

"Cradle robber."

Maurus lifted his chin from the top of Arianna's head and gave the approaching Mathias a flat look. Mathias answered the look with one of blithe amusement and tilted his head to the side, before a bit of surprise showed on his face. "Oh, she crashed."

"Yes," Maurus said, voice pitched low. Arianna had fallen asleep quickly after the kisses they'd shared and been sleeping quietly against his chest since then. He would have been put out if she hadn't been so obviously exhausted, but as it was, he was content to let her be, enjoying the feel of her, despite her warmth being almost uncomfortable by now and the spot of fur wet by her drool beginning to itch. The latter was a source of faint amusement too though, as were the faint snores, even if those were likely a relic of when Mathias bashed her nose crooked.

Turning his wandering attention back to Mathias, Maurus said: "I don't think she'd appreciate you calling her that."

Mathias shrugged, unconcerned as he began strapping on his armor. "She might as well deal."

"You've done quite a bit for us, in your own, frustrating way," Maurus said, giving a half-wry smile that vanished just as quickly as it appeared. "I'd be thankful if you didn't make a habit of throwing our different lifespan in our faces."

Mathias looked unmoved and Maurus considered pressing the point but decided against it. Instead, he sighed and shifted his grip on Arianna. He made to rise, but stopped as he spotted a glitter in Mathias' pale eyes and the fact that he was looking past him. The slightest bit of apprehension managed to coalesce in his stomach before Mathias spoke, voice teasing: "Was she any good? Or is she too easily exhausted?"

Maurus had half-turned by the time Mathias spoke and the indignation the words summoned crashed against the mirth that Wiven's stunned, appalled face, poking out from his tent, raised, freezing Maurus in his tracks. Wiven's eyes trailed from Maurus' hooves to his naked chest and Arianna's still snoring form and he groaned, tipping the balance and making Maurus laugh. After a moment where neither Maurus nor Mathias spoke, he shook his head and said wearily: "It's too early for you to traumatize me."

Maurus snorted, but let the irritation flare and fade and said flatly: "We're both outside and clothed."

"Barely," Mathias said. He waved a now gauntleted hand at Wiven and said: "And he knows as well as I how practical robes can be."

Maurus rolled his eyes as he turned back away from Mathias, catching Wiven looking even more disturbed, and knelt next to his own tent. A half-strangled sound made him look toward Wiven again, blowing out an exasperated breath. "What?"

Wiven, who had schooled his expression, pointed and said: "That's her tent."

"Which I can't put her in without uprooting it or rolling her in," Maurus answered flatly and carefully entered his own tent. Gently, he lowered Arianna to his bedroll and pushed the loose strands of hair from her face, before he, quietly, if possibly needlessly, gathered his clothes, armor and weapons and exited the tent.

Wiven was still looking at him, with the expression of someone who'd just realized something and Maurus raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"You're actually-" Wiven began slowly.

"Seeing where life leads us," Maurus interrupted him. Beginning to dress himself, he asked: "Are you going to be a hindrance?"

There was a pause and Maurus had donned his chain mail when Wiven answered.

"No," Wiven said, sounding far more collected and sober than usual and the simply statement made Maurus relax a little. In spite of Wiven's faults, especially his increasingly unhinged demeanor, Maurus actually liked him and would have been sad to clash with him over this.

"Good. Then I don't have to beat the stupid out of you," Maurus said firmly. He turned his head toward Wiven and found a trace of unease in his carefully schooled features.

"Not everyone will like this," he said.

Maurus tightened a strap with a quick jerk and answered: "I don't care for most of the blood elves I've met. I'll live and they'll get used to it."

Mathias snorted and Maurus glanced to him, finding a smirk on his friend's face.

"And yours aren't a problem either?" He asked, glancing around the camp. Maurus followed his gaze but found little to dishearten him, seeing as no one spared them a second glance now. Even his warden had apparently lost interest and joined the other trolls.

"Someone probably already has us in bed. And I have you for friends. My reputation has probably suffered as much as it is going to."

"Thanks," Mathias said drily and Wiven sniffed.

"I have to concern myself with my unit's opinions though," Maurus said. "Quick breakfast, then we gather for training."

"They're hobbling free enterprise! It's demotivating, discourages innovation, reduces production speed and makes us all worse off!"

"Maybe we're getting fewer 'unfortunate accidents'," Maurus answered the seething Widget walking beside him. She'd met up with him, Arianna and the rest of the unit when the army began moving, proclaiming herself their attached zapper. Since then, she'd been ranting about the steps that had been taken after three more explosions and a handful of deaths had proved that there was cause for concern. Those steps entailed additional grunts to supplement those posted there after Ven'Zarul's attack, supervisors for the goblins and a strict set of rules for when, how and to whom the goblins were allowed to sell their wares. The result was just shy of the Horde army proper claiming total right to the explosives.

"What'd you say if you had someone looking over your shoulder when you made your scrimshaw, and that you could only sell them to one particular buyer?" Widget said, agitated.

"I'd tell you to get off my back," Maurus said, tone mostly amiable. "And I don't think they're comparable. Your bombs are a bit more unpredictable and a bit less common."

"We're not the only ones that know how to make them," Widget said irritably. "There's loads of other engineers in the camp. They're not on a leash."

Maurus gave a nod that indicated he saw her point, but said: "They don't have as easy access to materials though. You control that, right?"

Widget blinked. "Maybe. Mostly. Yeah, I guess," she said sullenly. "End result is still that we're not as prepared as we could for them!"

'Thank you for reminding me,' Maurus thought sarcastically as his eyes followed the swing of Widget's hand. Out past the army, to the east, the massive shards of crimson rose, glittering, over a sea of red sand, across which black figures prowled in the hundreds. They looked as distant as they had been an hour ago, but Maurus wondered if, just maybe, they had grown closer and he couldn't help feeling like he was waiting for an inevitable rockslide.

Two actually, though the worry for the ordinary kind of rockslide was less sensible. The soft slopes of the mountains on his left side had been worn down by the weather of Zangarmarsh and then toppled by the fury of the Portal's collapse during the Second War, making the slopes much kinder and safer to ascend. That was, after all, the reason they were taking this route, skirting the edge of the colossi's territory and going over the mountains rather than braving the narrow passes further south, which would surely be choke-points. But he couldn't help but think back to Demon Fall Canyon and the showers of rock and constant attacks.

And he was on the vanguard again, even if he wasn't at the exact front of it this time.

At least they had a solid presence of scouts this time, in the form of light cavalry and flyers, ranging ahead and up the slopes, and the march wasn't as exhausting as the others across the Peninsula. Just hours after leaving Falcon Watch, which the budding construction had been dubbed for some inexplicable reason, Hellfire Peninsula had begun living less and less up to its name as the temperature rapidly dropped to merely warm and the air became tinged with moisture and a faint smell of old rot and vibrant, alien life.

"Tell me, what are these?"

Maurus' gaze dropped from the heights to Arianna at her quiet words. She was walking beside him, Ash darting around her feet and was holding her free hand up toward him, wrist tilted so that the long sleeve of her usual red gown slid back and revealed the bracelet she wore.

Feeling a spark of joy just at the sight, he smirked, hidden by his helmet and said: "Bracelets."

Arianna sniffed and affected an unimpressed look. "The signs, Cow."

Maurus made a show of looking over the bone and said: "Isn't it lax of you to wear something you aren't familiar with?"

Arianna raised an eyebrow and said: "You seemed so happy. I didn't want to ungrateful by asking questions."

Maurus snorted. "Swiftness, nimbleness." Feeling a little foolish, he hesitated before adding: "Purity."

Arianna snorted, a sound that was echoed by Mathias and Wiven, who were both walking along, in front of and beside her respectively. Her expression clearly asked the amused question: 'Really?'

"Can't hurt to have a little cleansing charm," Maurus said, shrugging with more nonchalance than he felt. "You did admit that your craft isn't harmless."

Arianna tilted her head in a gesture of vague agreement. "Sometimes, you seem to remember too well."

"You're opposed to me hanging onto you every word?"

She smirked. "When you use them against me, yes."

"You'd get bored if I didn't."

"Probably," she allowed pleasantly and Maurus had a sudden urge to hug her to him. Having his hands full with shield and mace and his body covered in hard steel discouraged that idea though, as much as the situation itself did. It really wasn't the time for physical affection. Maurus wasn't even sure they ought to be talking as they did, because a small part of him kept insisting he should be quiet and carefully listening as well as watching for the enemy.

A larger part of him reminded him that they had extensive scouts around the main army and that they should expect warning unless the attack came from beneath the earth. Which again reminded him of Demon Fall Canyon and as such, didn't help him relax much after all.

"Does the situation really warrant such worry?" Arianna asked. She'd stepped in close to him and spoke in a tone he was sure couldn't be heard more than a foot or two away.

"Don't know. Does it?" he replied, catching her eyes and the tension behind her relaxed demeanor.

"You're getting entirely too observant," she said wryly.

"No such thing," Maurus said, his lips curling.

Arianna looked up into the sky. It too was changing. For the first time since passing through the Portal, the strange sky was obscured by real clouds, faint, almost invisible ones that had made the climb over the mountains. The cloud cover was more pronounced along the tops of the mountains, taking on an blue tint, but still far from opaque. "We're unlikely to be caught off guard."

"Wouldn't be surprised if they pulled something off anyway," Maurus said.

"Will you let the experienced, older woman soothe you or not?"

"Maybe later," Maurus said in a low rumble, finding himself grinning.

"Getting ahead of yourself again," Arianna said.

Maurus shrugged. "It's- he began, but cut himself off as horns began blaring from up the slope. Horde signals, but not from the army proper. It came from the west, from the scouts or those that had been ferried ahead on zeppelins, as well as from the windriders circling above, high enough that they could see much farther than the soldiers on the ground.

Maurus' mirth vanished, giving his tension full reign, now that he knew something was coming, but not what.

"Anyone catch sight of anything, speak up," Maurus barked, scanning the mountains and the air. He'd learned the signals by now, and if he wasn't mistaken, they said flying enemies was coming from two sides and... Artillery from the west? That seemed odd, and like something that should have been noticed sooner, but he looked in that direction anyway and saw a flock of what he assumed to be windriders fall into a dive while something rose up to meet them. The flyers met, the units splitting apart like startled birds, but a lot of the shapes that had risen in response to the windriders simply kept going, flying down the slope.

"Range, out," Maurus shouted. Around him, similar orders sounded and the clatter of weapons being prepared and the buzz and crackle of magic being shaped added themselves to the noise. Then a sharp crack of thunder rang out behind Maurus and he whirled in time to see fading flame and billowing smoke, both tinged with toxic green. It took a moment for the smoke to dissipate, so he heard the pained screams before he saw blood and broken bodies, and both was be swallowed up by a series of similar detonations.

Maurus' heart leapt into his throat and it felt like it pulled hard on his stomach. He looked back west and saw the winged shapes coming in fast now but he hardly cared. A memory resurfaced from the two days back and he turned his head: "Was that-"

"Mortars." The answer came in uneven unison from Calen, Arianna, Drim, Mathias and Tu'jan. There was equal parts dismay and anger in their voices.

Maurus looked around for Senior Seargent Kolash, but even as it did, he was stepping forward, raising his mace to the west and shouting with a voice much surer than he felt: "Spread out. Shields up, magic blocks, ready! Move!"

He was relieved to catch sight of Kolash shouting much the same orders as he did and that the units to his left were already doing much the same as he was suggesting.

"Wait!" A reedy voice shouted and Maurus stopped mid-step, a little unsteadily. Then he turned, releasing his grip on his shield and shrugging it up onto the strap covering his forearm. He grabbed Widget, getting hold of an odd metal bar along the back of her leather armor and tossed her up onto his shoulder, where she yelped and floundered for a moment, before he felt her weight settle in the stirrups. He hadn't removed them yet but it was an oversight he was more glad than embarrassed to have made now.

Another round of explosions sounded, drowning out cries and shouts again even though they were farther behind Maurus this time and as he began running up the slope towards where the windriders were, he realized with a sullen resignation that he was once again lucky to be close to the front of the formation.

"Forward!" Widget screamed, a jittering edge of hysteria in her voice.

The slope was steeper this way up and soon Maurus' heart was pumping with exertion as well as fear. His hooves slammed into the red sand and grey slate, treacherous footing at the best of times, but dangerous here, yet he managed to avoid falling. Not everyone did and he managed to catch a troll running in front of him before the troll's stumble could become a real, dangerous fall.

He raised his shield as the flyers neared them. Two fiends landed in a crash of dust and fire, stopping Kolash' group in its tracks as at least a score more came down in front of the advancing regiment, accompanied by flocks of succubi. More flyers simply went by and Maurus felt fire slam against his shield, held over both his and Widget's heads, as they did.

"Onward! Stop the guns!" Kolash shouted as he threw himself fearlessly toward the demons and battle commenced. Maurus followed his example, hurtling through the flame that the demon in front threw at him, ignoring the lashes swiping his sides. Light and flame and darkness flew around him and shadows passed overhead as the rest of the flyers continued down the mountain, but he paid them little heed. He focused his attention on the massive fiend's black blades, shielding his smaller companions as they went for its legs. As he defended against the heavy blows, he silently thanked Arianna for the weakening curse he saw seep into the fiend's flesh and thanked the spirits that he had his skilled friends and soldiers with him.

The first fiend fell, only to be replaced by another, warier one, and the fight got harder, as the explosions continued to thunder behind them. Another fiend fell and another, crumbling to the ground amid the slaughtered succubi, but as they did, the magical onslaught from Maurus' group thinned and the fighters took more and more hits. The fourth demon fell suddenly though, as the unit to Maurus' left overwhelmed their own foe and added their magic and steel to the assault. That left a hole in the demons' formation, by chance or design, Maurus had heard the order and pushed forward, calling on his soldiers to do the same.

Maurus' group and the other one hurried through the hole, running upward as others ran around the demon formation to hit them in the rear.

As he ran, Maurus' eyes flicked to his companions. Arianna and Wiven had both donned their light helmets, so now every expression was hidden between blank steel, but all his companions moved with a determined, focused stride that didn't betray whatever anxiety they might feel.

For his part, he felt apprehension twist his stomach as they continued up the slope and saw no new resistance. He would have put more defenses in place and he had a hard time believing it could be so simple.

"What's the catch?" he said, loud enough that those closest to him could hear it. He only got a variety of 'don't know's in answer, so he simply kept up the pace.

Two hundred strides further up, Maurus suddenly realized the booms came singly or in pairs instead of in dozens and looked back. The fight was still furious, though tipping convincingly in the Horde's favor, but further back, a black mass was advancing among the crystals toward the rear of the army.

'Can't do anything about that' Maurus told himself firmly, swallowing bile and looking ahead again. That made him growl out a curse, as he saw demons disappear up into the sky, their flight labored, while their fellows battled the windriders.

The area beneath the aerial battle was a jumble of rocks and boulders and Maurus raised a hand before slowing his own pace. He took a moment to let the people close around him, then went forward as fast as he dared while fearing an ambush hidden behind the cliffs.

Nothing jumped out at them or the other units around them, though Maurus didn't let himself relax. Very carefully, he went around a wider rock formation and stopped, as Widget let out a delighted gasp. His eyes immediately found the ground up dirt and the scorch marks, but he only noticed that in passing, paying much attention to the cause of Widget's outburst: Bombs, almost spike-like rather than round, strewn haphazardly across the ground, lying in small piles or singly, evidence of a quick retreat.

On the opposite end of the rock formation, one of the other units stood looking in. The leader, a troll that made him think of Zolan, waved a hand and a small undead in leathers stepped forward.

Maurus held up his mace and waved his shield arm at the soldiers behind him as he shouted: "Get back!"

Without waiting for a response from the sergeant, he gestured toward the piles and said more quietly: "Have Ash check it."

Arianna breathed a quick order and Ash hurried forward, the red demon blending almost perfectly with the dirt as he approached the piles, bony head to the ground. He was almost on top of the biggest pile when his head snapped up and he leaped directly into it.

Maurus' shifted his weight even before the demon leaped, ready to step between Arianna, who was the only one not in covered by the rock or himself already, and the potential explosion. None came however, thanks to of Ash's instincts.

A voice not unlike Widget's cried out as Ash pushed a little yellow figure out from the pile of bombs it had been hiding in. Maurus' heart skipped a beat as he saw bright, acid-green sparks flare from the imp's fingers, but the fireball never bloomed, instead going out like a candle as Ash's wide-open maw sucked the magic from the air.

The imp shrieked indignantly and Maurus was sure it was cursing just from its tone, as it wrestled with Ash, who only raked at it with his claws, his jaws spread but not biting down. Judging by the constantly erupting and vanishing sparks, it was a good thing Ash did so.

The struggle lasted for only a few moments before the undead from the other unit simply knelt beside the demons and ended it with quick, precise moments, one hand grabbing hold of the imp's ear and pulling, the other sliding his dagger across its throat, cutting so deep that the imps head came off its shoulders. Freed from the need to dampen magic, Ash bit down gleefully on the imp, only to growl in annoyance as blood and body turned to dust.

"Don't think I've ever appreciated the creepy mutt as much as I do now," Maurus said after a moment. He glanced down the mountain and felt a rush of relief as he saw that the black mass had changed course, going north for some reason, having apparently never reached the back of the army.

"I do keep him around for a reason," Arianna said. Her tone was light, but roughened by the run and an edge of worry.

Maurus nodded, looking back at Ash as the demon sniffed the area again. There was something in his body language the looked like disappointment and Maurus found himself feeling something like it. Finding the enemy gone before they even arrived, there'd been little to release the tension in blood and rage, no proper way to exact revenge for the fallen. Instead, the tension and anger had nowhere to go, and while some of it petered out, the rest remained, annoying like a stiff limb that needed to be stretched out.

The rest of their climb over the mountains followed the same pattern. The demons never stood and fought. Instead, the fel-damned mortars would appear and fire from hidden perches, the demons and fel orcs only fighting long enough that their artillery teams could get some good shots in and then withdraw. It was exhausting and terrifying, always waiting for the thunder of explosions, their only hope being that the flyers and those who'd advanced by zeppelin would find the enemy before the main army came into range, though they did seem to become swiftly more effective at it.

When they reached the top of the mountain range, under a sky tinged blue by odd clouds, Maurus was shocked to realize that there had been no attacks the previous day and a half and that it was unlikely the descent would be anything like the ascent, now that the mountains worked against the artillery. The relief of that thought made the sight of Zangarmarsh stretching out beneath them, a breathtaking, strange vista of white ovals over lush green and specks of beautiful, wonderful blue water, even sweeter. Without thinking, he hugged Arianna to him, though only briefly, remembering his full armor when she let her discomfort be known.

That was another thing he hoped proper, flat land and normal advance would give way to. The hard march had left precious little energy and time for anything other food and sleep, and having to remain in armor for as much of the time as possible had severely reduced the enjoyment he got from the moments of closeness he and Arianna had managed to get.

It wasn't to be just yet though, as the army turned south then and moved south toward the proper passes into Zangarmarsh. That too became a frustrating week, as the enemy remained as skittish and elusive as before, retreating before them, leaving little trace but the ash of summoned demons, dead orcs and the occasional trap in the form of explosives set up to either blast them or trigger rockslides.

The end felt decisive at least and Maurus was mostly satisfied that he was stuck on the western flank while the vanguard cleared out the caves and positions along the northen passes, before collapsing the tunnels behind them. Those engagements seemed to break the enemy's resolve and the army reached the valley floor practically unopposed.

Zangarmarsh was a cool, humid heaven after the months in the Blasted Lands and Hellfire Peninsula, made even more so by the enemy apparently being in full retreat. It was bursting with life, buzzing with insects and reverberating with the odd, squishy creaking of the humongous mushrooms that towered over the green land. After the overpowering red of Hellfire, Zangarmarsh's blue colors was a balm on his eyes and the rainbow of colors that glowed softly from inside many of the mushrooms made the place as beautiful as Ashenvale.

And the water. Cool, wonderful water, surprisingly clear for a place called a marsh, was everywhere, dripping from the plants and running down the trunks of the mushrooms, seeping into the earth and feeding the lakes and pools and sluggish streams that seemed almost more plentiful than solid ground.

Of course, nothing was ever good enough to satisfy everyone.

"Nothing works! It's all too moist!" Widget whined. They'd barely set up camp and slated their thirst before she'd realized and now she sounded close to tears, fiddling with a small black bomb in a way that would have made any sane person edge away slowly had they been anywhere else.

"Hmm," Maurus agreed pleasantly as he unbuckled his breastplate. He was rather pleased that the humidity and the plentiful mushrooms made it unlikely that the demons could use their mortars here. Magic, steel and claw would be the only weapons available.

"Really, what am I going to do?" Widget continued. "I'm useless, impotent, a net loss!"

Maurus kept his gaze on the glittering water in front of him and shrugged. "Learn to shoot a crossbow? It'd save my ears some pain."

"But that's a step back," Widget said, appalled. "We've gone beyond that. Become better."

"A weapon that only works when the weather is on your side is hardly the best," Maurus said, glancing at her. She looked like she sounded, her red hair hanging heavy around her face, wet from the light, short drizzle that had come down as they were setting up camp. "Maybe it's a sign to change direction. The Legion's hardly someone to emulate."

Widget looked almost offended and opened her mouth to respond, only to get interrupted.

"Are you saying she should give up on gunpowder because the Legion is using it? I'm shocked by your hypocrisy." The tone was light and teasing and Maurus smiled even before he turned and saw Arianna approach. He did also raised an eyebrow in question though.

"By that logic, you should give up your armor and throw away your axe. I think the only thing you use that they don't are totem poles," Arianna elaborated, stepping in between Widget and Maurus. She paused momentarily before leaning in and pressing her lips to his for a brief moment.

"And earth magic," Maurus said as she withdrew. "I think I know a couple of tauren who would like us sticking to those. But I guess you have a point."

Arianna gave a slight nod, indicating that that much was obvious and slid down beside Maurus as Ash settled down in front of them. Widget looked a little mollified, but still frustrated.

"Still think the crossbow would be useful," Maurus said pleasantly, muffled by his chainmail and the layers beneath as he pulled them over his head. The sudden lack of weight on his shoulders made him sigh in relief as he pushed the armor into his tent.

"Maybe a whip, if you plan to keep riding the Cow into battle," Arianna said drily.

"He whips himself into a frenzy well enough on his own, if you ask me," Widget answered, matching Arianna's tone.

Arianna chuckled and Maurus grunted. "Properly handled, you could throw a lot of enemies off balance," Arianna said. "And I do know someone who could teach you."

"Are you seriously suggesting I have a little whipping goblin on my shoulder?" Maurus asked.

"Saves your hearing and makes her useful," Arianna said practically.

"No fun," Widget said, her moroseness returning.

"Your infernal-wreckers will work anyway, won't they?" Maurus asked.

"Yes, but that's because the heat flash-dries the-" Widget trailed off and her eyes widened. "That's it! I just need to figure a way to do that."

She sprang up, her mouth spreading in a grin that seemed to show all her teeth, darted forward and hoisted herself up by Maurus' horns to kiss him on the nose, before running off. Maurus looked after her, then at Arianna. She was looking after Widget too, her expression thoroughly unimpressed, then she glanced back at him.

"Excitable one, isn't she?" She asked.

"Nothing new about that," Maurus said, setting his hands into the earth and pushing himself to his hooves. Arianna looked at him with a slight frown and a hint of surprise in her eyes. Then her eyes widened as he pulled at his chain leggings.

"I'm glad you joined me, but I was planning on finally getting some of this dust out of my fur. I bet it'll make me more pleasant to be around too," Maurus said. He smirked. "Care to join?"

This time, Maurus was sure he saw a hint of red in Arianna's cheeks, but her expression showed no consternation. Instead, a pensive look appeared on her face and Maurus' smirk widened. His eyes ran across the little circle of tents, empty for the moment. They had, in his opinion, a good spot, close to the lake and the tents offered some modesty for Arianna if that was what she wanted, though there were other bathers on the opposite side. "I can shield you if you want," Maurus added, grinning.

"Thank you. But I think I'll wait a little," she said, her eyes alighting on the bathers and the other tents along the lake.

"Suit yourself," Maurus said, shrugging, and turned to the lake. With quick motions, he discarded his remaining clothes and began walking down toward water, though not before glancing back at Arianna. She looked both appreciative and disproportionally surprised by his action considering both his and the average Horde members attitude to nakedness, and he smiled broadly, swinging his tail and adding a slight swagger to his steps.

That got a chuckle before he reached the water and threw himself into it with absolute relish. It was bliss, finally cleaning what felt like pounds of grit and grime from his fur and afterward he simply enjoyed the feeling of the gently sloshing water around him, taking a few strokes further into the lake, though not before diving to look for predators. The place might seem safe, and have been deemed safe by the shamans who'd communicated with the spirits, but there was no sense in letting down his guard.

Satisfied, he swam through the water, letting it cool him and relax his tense muscles, the slow, steady movements calming and meditative, so different from the jerky motions of combat or the draining motions of march.

He swam further into the lake before turning around to float on his back and letting his gaze wander. Above, the strange, massive mushrooms soared high into the misty air and the firefly lights that dotted the air made small clouds of green and purple and red. Around him, the water rippled, reflecting snatches of the color above, making it twinkle with motes of light between the white flowers that dotted the water here and there. To one side were an even stranger, but no less beautiful plant. Streamers of pale blue, like a mix between seaweed and peaceblossom, infused with light, spread from vaguely fungus-like growth at their center that glowed with more intensity.

He hadn't felt so relaxed since the oasis, just before they'd reached Ratchet, when he'd enjoyed that oasis and later seen Arianna under the moon. That image was more vivid than he'd expected, but in hindsight, he might have been more aware of her already then. At that thought, he glanced back to the tents and found Arianna sitting peacefully, a hand beneath her chin, watching him and she looked about as relaxed as he felt. A dip would surely make it better, but if she wouldn't join him, he would have to rejoin her, so he kicked out to get back to shore.

The peaceful water around him suddenly exploded, whipping up around him like waves crashing against a rock. Water sprayed up around him and then iron-strong bands wrapped around him, coiling around his thighs, his arms, his chest and around his throat and dragging him beneath the surface of the lake.

As the water closed over him, as ominous as galloping hooves at night, panic bloomed in his mind and he struggled, with absolutely no success. He had no purchase, nothing to kick off of, nothing he could do. The bands dug into his skin with painful strength and he could feel a disgusting, spongy mass against his back, but he hardly noticed anything other than the band around his throat, lighting the water around him with a ghostly blue glow and feeling like it might break his neck or crush his windpipe.

'The shamans should have found something like this, he thought, oddly clearly, as his vision began to darken. He hadn't had time to breathe before going under and he was rapidly running out of air, something the bands around his chest only hastened, pressing bubbles out between his clenched teeth.

He kept struggling, rage breaking through the panic. He couldn't die here, now, less than a hundred feet from the woman he loved. It was no use though, and darkness crept further in on his vision and odd phantom colors played in the shadows. Purple. Red. Green.

Something black and violent and ugly suddenly coiled in his stomach before it exploded out through his body, making his muscles feel like they might burst and creeping up through his throat like a razor-edged snake. His mouth tasted of bile and blood as he pulled at the tentacles restraining him, a mindless snarl bubbling between his lips as his mind became consumed by a burning, hateful rage. He felt the bonds around his limbs break easily before his newfound strength, like wet grass, and he spun in the water, reaching out in a frenzy to tear more at its limbs. His head was pounding, his lungs screamed for air, but the only thing that seemed to matter was getting to that glowing head.

His fingers tore into the spongy mass as if they had been blades and the left side of the large, blue, fungoid head burst like rotten fruit, but it gave him barely any satisfaction and he reached out for the mangled creature, kicking out with his hooves to follow it as it spun away on its wounded limbs.

Then his hate-fueled rage vanished, replaced by abject terror. His vision was darkening, his limbs felt heavy and he was abruptly spine-chillingly certain that the soft, grave-dark lakebed was filled with more of the alien creatures, ready to drag him down to drown in the muck. Driven by desperation, he kicked, propelling him up toward the faint light above, certain he was doomed. His stomach heaved, his arms and legs felt like one big bruise and it felt like the water itself was dragging him down.

His head burst from the water, and he gulped down heaving breaths, but the air brought him no relief, the sight of the Horde camp only gave him a new goal to desperately move toward. He splashed forward with jerky, powerful motions that made his breathing get interrupted by gasps of pain. Any moment, more of the tentacles would wrap around his ankles and then it would be over. He'd die in agony, naked, alone, not even knowing what his killers were.

His hooves touched soft mud and a fresh jolt of fear ran through him as he expected sinuous arms to snake up around him and drag him back in, but it didn't happen. He trudged forward, eyes wild and then, with a suddenness that made him stumble, the terror vanished.

He didn't catch himself. He only managed to bring out his arms before he fell face-first into the muddy shore. With effort and the help of something hard and spiny pushing at him, he rolled onto his back and simply lay there, his heart racing, his muscles throbbing agonizingly, staring up into the mushroom canopies and the dark, blue sky behind them. He saw no beauty this time, only able to think about the numbing fear and the all-consuming hate he'd felt a moment before and would have crawled into his tent and curled into a ball if he'd been able. Instead, he lay in the mud, feeling cold, heavy, his limbs trembling and his stomach rolling. Dimly he registered a voice calling: "Shayla! Calen!"

After a moment, when he'd gotten enough air into his lungs to be merely breathing heavily, rather than heaving for air, Arianna appeared above him. She was dripping wet, her hair was plastered to her face and her robe clung to her shoulders. There was an uncharacteristic gleam of panic in her wide eyes.

"Can you breathe?" she asked, one hand touching his throat and the other falling to his chest. He grimaced, feeling like she was hitting bruises with a hammer and she quickly withdrew both hands, before he managed a nod and a deep breath that hurt his chest.

Heart in his throat, he asked, voice rough and unsteady: "What happened?"

Guilt flashed across Arianna's face and she gently placed a hand on his cheek, not speaking. A movement on the edge of Maurus' vision made him start, but then he recognized Shayla's serious face and her short-cropped, dark hair. She looked him up and down, then settled her eyes on Arianna.

"Frenzy. And fear," Arianna sighed. "There will be torn muscles."

Shayla scoffed, but set to work without another word, placing her hands just above Maurus' chest and he immediately felt the tense, dull throb there begin to ease, making breathing less painful. He stared at Arianna, feeling a little sick. "That was..."

"It was a spell, inspired by the shaman's bloodlust, perfected during the Third War. It had little to do with you," Arianna said, caressing his cheek. He shuddered, but felt a surge of relief that the black hate and blinding rage hadn't come from himself. He thought he was used to rage, but those emotions had blotted out all thought and it frightened him to think what he would have done had he been around friends.

Arianna misinterpreted his shudder though, and removed her hand, a flinching motion. Maurus gathered his thoughts and managed to say: "Not you. Just the spells. Horrifying."

He had to swallow again. Half-heartedly, he said: "You're better at fear than most."

Arianna's lips twitched, though she didn't look happy. Figuring he had to do something, he lifted a hand, ignoring his protesting muscles, and placed it on her thigh.

"Just don't hit me with it again."It came out a lot less lighthearted than he meant it to, but Arianna seemed to understand, her hands falling to rest on his hand.

"I had to do something," she said and her expression became resolute, her hands clenching into fists atop his. "If necessary, I will do it again."

Maurus suppressed a shudder at the thought of feeling any of that again, but he couldn't fault her. Her actions had saved him from a certain death so he'd just have to live with the extra horrors that was sure to trouble his sleep. That logic didn't quite banish the disgust and horror he felt and he had to struggle to get out the words: "Thank you."

He hoped the squeeze he gave her thigh was more convincing than the words sounded.

Arianna nodded, seeming to understand and bent in to press a kiss against his mouth. He was tempted to try to deepen it, but he simply felt too exhausted to do much more than return the kiss.

"You do smell better," Arianna said, hovering over his mouth.

Maurus felt the mud on his legs, his arms and his back and managed a weary smile. "Not a complete loss then."

Well, I finally managed to get something out. I hope it was worth the wait to some degree.

The good news is that I have a firmer idea of what the next chapter will be about. The bad news is that university is probably going to be a right bitch. So I can promise nothing.

Thank you all for reading. Just wanted to put that out there.

Fun fact, I was checking out the WoW wiki and saw that there actually are two named dreadlords in Demon Fall Canyon. I feel a little annoyed that I didn't know that, but I'm sticking with Ven'Zarul. I like it.

Also, if anyone calls me out on the unholy frenzy: I was thinking of the warlocks in Warcraft 3, chaos orcs, who had fireball, unholy frenzy and another spell. So I thought I could use it, even though I found out it was a death knight spell in WoW proper. But I already showed the fel orc warlocks using it, so I thought it wasn't completely out of the blue. I hope it wasn't too jarring.

BTW, to the userless Doublecave, if you're reading this, the email didn't show up for some reason. So no way to bounce you ideas.

I hope to have something up in a reasonable time frame this time.