Chapter 2 - Battle in the Shadowglen!
"What do you think Tarindrella's got to say?" Kaelyn whispered to Zinobeia as they sat Indian-style on the ground near the moonwell.
"How should I know?" Zinobeia whispered back. She looked over to Tarindrella, the dryad moving to the moonwell and standing in the middle of its waters. The half-centaur, half-elf looking out at the audience before her. A grim look had appeared on her face. All listened intently as she began to speak.
"My friends," she began in a somber and yet silky voice, "Raynewood Retreat has fallen under attack from the Horde." She waited as the collective gasp came from the audience, accompanied by murmuring. Putting up her hands, she continued. "There is no doubt that they will make their way to Auberdine, and possibly eventually to Darnassus. I have no doubt that Lady Tyrande is able to hold them off, but I fear for your Shadowglen. In light of this, I have spoken to the Shadowglen Council, and they agree that arrangements should be made quickly to evacuate to the capital city."
More murmuring occurred. "Leave Shadowglen?" "We cannot do that, all that we have is here!" "But what of the Horde?"
Kaelyn, meanwhile, had diverted her attention to a rustling she heard in the bushes, a small distance from the group. Crawling over toward the bushes, she cautiously approached. A small noise came from them, almost like whimpering.
"Remiel?" she asked slowly, thinking she should go back and alert Zinobeia. The whimpering persisted, however, and Kaelyn crawled closer. "Remiel, are you all right?" She reached her hand toward the trembling brush.
The last thing Kaelyn would hear would be the whimpering turning into a growl, and not just any growl, but a growl that sounded strangely like… laughter.
The scream that left her lips flew swiftly and suddenly across the glen. Surprised night elves turned in the direction of its origin, only to see four beastly creatures running towards the crowd, followed by several skeletons wielding weapons of various natures. Maces, polearms, and swords were raised in the air as the deafening laughter of the undead descended upon the glen.
"The Horde!" Ayenna cried in a loud voice. "Gather your weapons and defend the Shadowglen!"
The crowd panicked and began to dissipate quickly. Many made a scramble for their tents. The druids began to shape shift into feral forms to help out their kinsmen and defend the glen. Zinobeia, who always carried her bow for such a situation, pulled an arrow from its sheath and strung it into her bow, aiming for one of the beasts. Letting it fly, she grinned as the arrow found its mark. It hit the beast in the shoulder, and the creature toppled over in pain. Clutching its shoulder, the creature transformed into what looked like a cross between a human and a bull. The crowd of undead stepped over the fallen bull, but a moment later, the creature rose and surged forward again.
Zinobeia knew of such creatures. Reflecting back on her training, she remembered that they were called Tauren, and were known for their strength and resilience in battle. She knew things were going to be bad. Without hesitation, she began to run towards her tent, praying that Remiel was still well.
The cat had not been bothered at all by the commotion. In fact, Zinobeia noticed when she looked around that the tree, Aldrassil, had not been attacked, but she also knew that it would be a matter of time. Letting a whistle slip from her lips, she smirked as the cat's head raised, somewhat sleepily. However, he was swift to awaken and make his way to his mistress, stretching contentedly.
"Let's go, boy," Zinobeia commanded as she turned her attention back to the oncoming Horde troops. The night elves had gotten their weapons and armor as well, and were standing as a barrier between the onslaught and Aldrassil. Ayenna also ran up behind them, acting as general to the army of elven warriors.
"Defend Aldrassil at all cost!" Ayenna commanded. "Do not let them through!" Zinobeia marched up to the army, but when Ayenna saw her, she ran over and pushed her back. "No, Zinobeia. They are too strong, even for us. You cannot fall in combat. I have decided. You must leave Shadowglen to train further. Leave the Horde to us." She pulled her long braid up into a bun as she prepared for battle.
Zinobeia blinked. Now Ayenna was going to let her go? In the middle of an attack? Especially an attack on her home?? "No way," she replied. "I'm going to--"
"You're going to leave Shadowglen and head to Darnassus," Ayenna replied sternly. "I will not have you as a casualty in this battle. That is an -order-." She emphasized the last word heavily to stress its importance. "Now go." She began to turn Zinobeia in the direction of the entrance of the glen.
Zinobeia frowned, but eventually complied. She began to run with Remiel towards the entrance of the glen. She knew she would have to speak to the guards there, but then her thoughts began to waver. There was only one entrance to the Shadowglen. Wouldn't they have come in through there? How was she supposed to get out?
Arriving at the entrance, though, gave Zinobeia her answers. It did not seem that the Horde had been this way. However, the guards were lying unconscious around the gate. Rushing over to one, Zinobeia felt for a pulse but could find none. It seemed as though the guards were dead. But who could have killed them? No matter, she had to get out. She began to run towards the gate.
However, a man appeared in the gateway, a hand to his chin. His hair was brown and combed neatly. He wore a warrior's outfit and smiled as his blue eyes danced over her, examining her closely. "Well well," he mused in a flat voice. "What do we have here? A young night elf trying to leave the Shadowglen. I've heard that leaving the Shadowglen is a rite of passage for the night elves, a sign that they're finally able to handle themselves in combat."
"Who are you?" Zinobeia took a step back.
The man only smiled in reply. "That doesn't matter, little one. What matters is that this place is destroyed, as well as everyone within." At that moment, an explosion occurred behind Zinobeia. Surprised, she jumped and turned. The tree Aldrassil could be seen from anywhere in the glen, and this time around she saw it burning. The man came up behind her, a knife in his hand. He raised it high over his head. "Of course, that means you have to die too. Along with your precious Shadowglen." He began to bring the knife down, but just as he did, he was knocked aside by a giant bear into the brush. Zinobeia, scared, whirled around to face the bear. The bear just smiled and said in a soothing voice. "Looks like I got here just in time," the bear said, its features melting away to reveal a female night elf wearing extensive leather armor. Her green hair hung down past her hips, and her facial features looked similar to Zinobeia's. She smiled. "It's been a while, sister," she stated.
"Veloriana!" Zinobeia gasped, running into her sister's arms for a hug. "What are you doing here?" At that moment hower, another explosion occurred, and Zinobeia could now see that the fire in Shadowglen was spreading fast. The Horde's mages were busy, draining their mana to fuel the fire that was consuming the glen.
A young man ran up beside Veloriana, looking out to the glen. "Do you see them?"
Veloriana shook her head. "No, but you should call them over, Jer. We have what we came here for."
Jeramias nodded. "Gotcha." Reaching over to a device he had strapped to his armor, he pushed one of the four buttons and spoke into it. "We got her, guys. Get the entrance and let's get out of here, now."
Veloriana grabbed Zinobeia's hand. "Let's go," she began to lead Zinobeia down the path departing from Shadowglen.
Zinobeia pulled away. "Now wait a moment!" she declared. "What's going on here?! And why are you here to get me?"
Veloriana grabbed her hand again. "We don't have time for that, let's get somewhere safe, first." With that, the three of them ran down the path, affording Zinobeia one final look at Aldrassil and the Shadowglen as it burned.
* * *
A short while later, the three of them ducked into a small glade hidden behind the trees. Zinobeia sat on a log as Remiel moved next to her. "Okay," she tried to say as she caught her breath. "NOW can you tell me what's going on?"
Veloriana nodded to Jer, who moved into the trees to make sure that they were not going to be seen. A moment later, she sighed and turned back to Zinobeia. "Okay," she replied. "I'm not entirely sure what's going on," she began. "But we received inside information that the Horde were going to destroy Raynewood Retreat and were on their way to attack Darnassus. By the time we got there, they had already been through Raynewood. We had no way of stopping them. So we headed to Forest Song to get a gryphon out to Darnassus. The Queen knew we were coming and told us to get there and help as many as we could. Since I knew that you were here, I had to get you out of there and get you to Darnassus."
Zinobeia shook her hand. "Wouldn't they have just attacked Darnassus anyway?"
Veloriana laughed. "They won't stand a chance by the time they get there. It's too heavily guarded by Sentinels. But at any rate, we need to get you there before the Horde return. We just have to wait for the others."
"Others?" Zinobeia replied. "You mean the people Jer spoke to over that… communicator thing?"
"Yes," Veloriana replied. "It's our guild communicator. It allows us communications access to anyone in the general area, or anyone in the guild. When you get to the main cities, there's a special channel that we can access. As for the others, they should be along any minute." Her head craned in the direction that Jer had departed. "They're coming now."
A moment later, Jer reappeared, along with several people. Actually, humanoids was a more accurate term to describe each member of the group, which consisted of four humans, two night elves, and a dwarf. With the exception of Jer, each human wore clothing that didn't appear to be built for battle. Each outfit was covered in tears and burns, but for the most part, each person seemed to be unharmed, save for some scratches and bruises. One of the night elves was heavily armored, while the other wore leather armor. The dwarf was evidently a hunter, as she had a gun strapped to her back, and her companion, a tiger, sat down next to her and nuzzled her leg.
"Good," Veloriana observed. "You all made it. I had no doubt that our healers would do a good job." One of the humans, a priestess with honey-colored hair tied back into a bun, and one of the night elves, the one with leather armor, both nodded in appreciation.
"At any rate," the heavily-armored night elf observed, "we should get to Darnassus. We were able to take out some of the Horde, but there's still a lot of them."
"Then let's go," Veloriana replied. "And let's make sure Zinobeia gets there safe." After taking a short rest, the group began to depart through the winding paths on Teldrassil to head toward the elven capital, Darnassus.