Chapter 7
The truth of past
The great wall was a magnificent sight indeed. As Sitrim got out of the temporary transport, he could only join the others in looking at the gruesome height of the structure, with its' edges reaching to the skies. The wall itself looked quite old - made from bricks the size of two humans and all kind of growth seeping through the cracks in it. Once Sitrim noticed all that he grinned and diverted his attention to other matters.
It seemed like Myriam was right, as the transportation they were riding until now was being taken by the guards stationed near the huge gate, that led into the forbidden lands. Slowly, all the mercenaries gathered in front of the gate, with Ildrin at the front. He seemed to be talking to a guard intensely, while flapping a piece of paper in front of his nose.
"They better move it. Rebecca is getting impatient"- Damgarl murmured, while tightly holding his gun with both hands.
"You named your gun?" – Myriam then asked, with one of her eyebrows slightly lifted.
"Of course. There are two most important things in life for me – my gun Rebecca and any existing alcoholic beverage"- The dwarf then explained.
Myriam looked at the dwarf like she was doubting his healthy mental state and was about to add something, but it seemed like Ildrin finished his talk with the guard and the main gates slowly opened, letting the mercenary company move in.
What awaited them inside was something astonishing. Once the doors opened it looked like a completely different world was behind them. What awaited behind the doors was a forest, with trees almost reaching the tip of the great wall and growing besides its solid exterior. The forest looked dark and untouched by man. You couldn't see anything further than five meters in that thick natures' fortress.
Once the mercenaries entered the forest, the gates closed behind them, cutting them off from the outside world. As that took place, Ildrin let the dark troll lead the way.
"Watch yourselves, they say that if you lower your guard, the darkness snatches you away in a flash"- Ildrin shouted, so that everyone could hear, while following the troll.
"Now this I like. Almost feels like home"- Damgarl murmured after taking a good look around.
"What do you mean? What use is your gun if you won't see your targets"- Myriam then asked.
"Oh, so you think these goggles are only for show little missy?"- The dwarf replied, while tapping on them with his finger – "They help me see in the dark. A little present I picked up from a gnome engineer in Demdur"
"There are such skilled engineers in that hell hole? As far as I heard it's the most hated and feared place in the whole underground Dwarven kingdom"- Myriam said with surprise in her voice.
"The mad genius types like places like that"- The dwarf then said and started playing with the goggles, turning and pushing different parts until he was satisfied- "There we go, time for the hunt to begin"
The expedition ventured deep into the forbidden lands, with torches in their hands they traveled for a whole day, without meeting any strange creatures heard about from gossips, nor anything for that matter. It was like the forest was sleeping, with only a light echo, made by unknown sources, making its' way over the heads of our "adventurers".
"Ok then! We make camp here!" – Ildrin suddenly shouted and made the whole lot of his employees stop.
Everyone quickly gathered some firewood and started camp fires, chopping some trees for back-up fuel. As the expedition traveled the whole day, they were tired, thus a lot fell asleep as soon as they lied down, with handpicked people on guard duty, watching the darkness around them, searching for any movement.
As our four "friends" sat down in a circle, Myriam quickly released a ball of fire from her right palm, which floated to the middle of the circle and remained in air, spreading warmth and light around, but surprisingly – avoiding the ground and leaving the leaves unharmed by its fiery touch.
Sitrim seemed to be pleased with such a simple thing, but avoided giving any indication of such to the female mage. But obviously, she needed not, since even without it, Myriam noticed a faint smile on his face, which told her more than words could.
Calmed by the warmth and the pleasant light, everyone seemed to find something to do – Myriam was reading a book she took out from her small, but surprisingly resourceful bag, Zal'jin was sharpening his sword and Damgarl was taking care of his beloved Rebecca. As Sitrim watched this soothing sight he unknowingly drifted off into an unwelcome vision….
The night was disturbed by bright light coming from the wild fires that were harassing a forest in the valley. And two figures were observing such a view from a steep cliff. They were a human male and a female that could not be distinguished as a part of any known race, but had a close resemblance to a human, if not for those horns. The male was wearing heavy leather and a large handle of what seemed like a sword could be seen above his shoulder, while the female was wearing...well not much actually. But she looked damn good.
As you probably have already guessed, those two figures were Sitrim and Alexstrasza. The two of them watched as the fires quickly swallowed the forest, step by step, covering it in its fiery clutches, with sadness in their eyes they stood there silently, until one of them broke that pressuring silence.
"It seems the humans got tired of fighting the trolls in the forest"- Alexstrasza spoke out in a low, sad voice.
Strangely, Sitrim did not reply to the observation for a few moments and started walking towards the cliffs edge.
"We need to put out the fire"- He then said and jumped down, leaving Alexstrasza alone on the cliff.
She was hesitant of her involvement in a minor conflict of the mortal races, but after a few moments made a decision. Her eyes lit up in bright red and Alexstraszas body was engulfed in strong fires. The females' body then started growing and changing shape rapidly and after what seemed like a few moments – turned into a mighty red dragon, who could barely fit on that cliff. She then flapped her wings and dived towards the valley, soaring over the fierce fires, covered by the smoke they made.
As for Sitrim- he quickly ran towards the spreading catastrophe and grabbed the large handle, mentioned before, taking out a large sword for whatever reason. But after that he stopped to notice dark figures running around in front of the fiery wall. As he looked closer he saw that the figures were trolls – dark trolls to be precise. They were busy cutting down trees and digging trenches, trying to stop the fire even at the cost of their lives – which seemed very real as some of the trolls were burned alive, while trying to complete their treacherous objective.
As Sitrim observed such dedication, he quickly ran towards the incomplete trench and with a quick and powerful swing of the sword - cracked the ground open, creating a short, but effective trench to stop the fires. As the trolls saw that, they then quickly reorganized and most of them concentrated on cutting down the trees, leaving Sitrim the job of finishing the trench, which he continued in doing. But as fast as he tried, the deed seemed way too hard to do in time, as the fires were spreading at a tremendous speed and Sitrim was about to lose hope of saving at least half of the forest.
But luckily Alextrasza swooped in quickly and with a strong wave of her wings created gushes of wind, which were strong enough to put out a portion of the fires. After seeing that Sitrim continued with his part of the job and with the combined forces of the three (counting all the trolls as a single entity) the fires were finally calmed and put out, after an hour of hard work.
The vision became blurry after that and after a while we see our two main characters ( for the moment) at the same place they first met – in a valley surrounded by trees, with a pond quietly lurking in the middle of it. It seemed like the two were locked in a heated discussion.
"How can you say that? All life is sacred!"- Alextrasza shouted at Sitrim.
"Is it? Are the lives of these humans, elves or any other race for that matter truly sacred? They disregard any other life except their own, heightening themselves above all, treating everyone around them like some kind of stepping stone for their survival, or an inferior existence!"- Sitrim replied with a heightened voice and something similar to anger reflecting on his face.
"In truth the dark trolls are the true wardens of the forest, putting the existence of their surroundings first and their own - second. Even the night elves you so adore are selfish in comparison. They would rather save themselves first, then their surroundings! Not only that, but they exploit nature for power and use it for their own personal gain!"- He continued.
Alextrasza was at a loss for words, as she looked at this new Sitrim. But strangely she felt a certain pull towards this man, with his strong beliefs and a strange power coming from within. After quickly realizing all that, she felt torn, by such feelings and her thoughts on Sitrims opinion.
"Not only that, but have you ever looked closely at the night elves forests? They are all serene and purged of all things dangerous to them. They manipulate their surroundings to their own advantage. And what of the dark trolls? They let nature shape itself and only protect it, leaving their surroundings as they are, with all the dangers it holds within – letting it prosper"- Sitrim said, lowering his tone at the end. He then turned away from Alextrasza and walked a few steps closer to the pond, gazing at its mirroring surface.
"But in turn the dark trolls have never prospered. They sacrifice their own well-being for nature and all the beauty it holds. Not one kingdom has been created by them and they have never really prospered. They fought everyone who threatened their object of unyielding commitment and thus faced theoretical extinction in the face of all the other mortal races"- Sitrim then explained with a sad voice.
"And that is why they alone deserve my respect for being the only ones capable of co-existing with their surroundings, without damaging them"- he finished with a sad tone.
After Sitrim finished his long speech, Alextrasza walked towards him and put her arms around her male companion, hugging Sitrim from behind, with her head lying on his shoulder. Sitrim then replied to this gesture of kindness and placed his hands on hers, tilting his head until it touched Alextraszas'.
And so they remained, silent and still surrounded by the forest that kept them hidden from unwelcome eyes.
Obviously this is when Sitrim was awoken from his vision, by screams coming out of the temporary camp. He and his companions all turned to see what the commotion was all about only to see a large group of the mercenaries bunched together around someone. As the four approached they heard what the group was talking about.
"What the heck? What do you mean you were attacked? By who?"- One of the mercenaries shouted.
It seemed like a small party that was sent out to gather firewood was attacked by an unknown enemy and only one managed to return safely. The person in question was all covered in scrapes and it seemed like his arm was pierced by an arrow (well that's an obvious observation).
"I don't …know"- the injured survivor replied – "It was like something out of this world, the arrows came from nowhere and all I saw was moving shadows of some king of devils running around in the dark, with their red, bloodthirsty eyes looking at me…I ran as fast as I could.."
"What the fuck? You ate some strange mushrooms there or something? Stop spouting nonsense!"- Another mercenary replied from the crowd and got acknowledgment from the others, as a few were already kicking the poor guy around.
"Enough!"- Ildrin shouted, as he walked past the crowd – "If what you are saying is true, we should get ready before they attack our camp, since you led them right to us!"- He explained, but was too late, as a few shouts and sounds of fighting were heard from the east end of the camp.
The mercenary band quickly reacted and with haste armed themselves and started running towards the direction of the sounds.
"Finally – some action!" – Damgarl expressed and started configuring his goggles, stepping a few steps towards the fighting only to be stopped by Sitrim.
"Do not engage them. We have been observed the whole time and will be spared if we don't do anything. The fate of the camp is already sealed. I suggest you enjoy the spectacle that is about to unfold from a safe distance"- he said while holding the dwarfs shoulder.
"What the heck? How do you know all this? And you think I'll just stand and do nothing? My dwarven blood screams for action damn it!"- Damgarl shouted.
"It is useless. You will not win against them. Even if you manage to survive this fight, you will be the only one left and they'll just tire you out, until you are unable to lift a finger, finishing you off soon after that"- Sitrim then continued, while looking right into the dwarves eyes.
Damgarl looked back at Sitrim for a while and then slowly lowered Rebecca.
"Well when you put it that way…"- he said with a lowered voice.
"Now wait a minute. How do you even know all this? Do you know who is attacking the camp?"- Myriam then joined the conversation.
"It be my people"- Zal'jin replied instead of his master.
"What? But you mentioned that your tribe died off, I wanted to ask you earlier, but somehow it slipped my mind"- She then replied, not convinced by the trolls words.
"They were, while I was outside these lands"- The dark troll then replied, with a smirk.
"Well that's unexpected…"- Myriam then said with nothing else coming to mind.
After the conversation was over, Sitrim walked deeper into the forest with the three behind him, circling around the camp to observe the fighting that was taking place only to witness something almost out of this world…(of warcraft)