Rommath sat rigid on his steed, scanning the Dead Scar for any sign of he Alliance raiders or his wayward human. He was trying to convince himself that the unrelenting anger he felt since the raid was the result of injured Sin'dorei pride, of being bested by a Night Elf.
He was failing.
The Grand Magister was beginning to realise that it had nothing to do with the raid, per se, and everything to do with Braelyn being taken away from him.
What made him angrier, though, was that he should have known the raid would happen. When she'd woken up from her nightmare screaming for a male Night Elf, didn't he acknowledge that her lover would probably come for her? He should have had the city patrols doubled, should have placed more protective wards around the city, especially at the places Braelyn spent the most time.
He should have, but he didn't. Now, it was too late.
A half-hour previously they had stumbled upon the body of a troll, lying near the carcass of a horse. Halduron had managed to pick up a blood trail, and they'd been tracking it ever since. All of them hoped it wasn't Braelyn's blood.
Out of the corner of his eye, Rommath saw a bright flash, like the reflection of light on glass. He looked at where it had been, and smiled behind his mask when there was a second flash. He knew, without knowing why, that it was Braelyn. A hunter's scope, he thought smugly.
"She's up there," Rommath said, pointing to the hills. Halduron and Boxer followed his gaze, just in time to see the lens flash again.
"If it is them," Halduron replied, "then they'd be on the move now. We're easy to spot from there."
"Then we best hurry, then," Rommath said, urging his mount forward.
Not for the first time, Braelyn cursed how unfit she'd become since arriving in Quel'Thalas. She use to be able to run for miles at a steady pace, but now, she'd hardly made any progress at all and she felt like her lungs were on fire.
"I'm all right, Bitey," she reassured her pet, as she lent on one of the dead trees that littered the Ghostlands. She wanted to stop and rest, and both she and her lynx needed food and water, but she didn't have the time. There were no hiding places near by, and she couldn't risk staying out in the open with Rommath so close.
"Come," she commanded Bitey, and set off again. She compromised by moving at a slower pace, which turned out to be a good thing when she heard the sound of battle up ahead. She slunk into the shadows of some trees, silently thanking Bitsie for teaching her the trick. She hoped it was enough to keep her hidden. It was not true stealth; when she'd gone to a trainer to learn that skill, she was told she wasn't advanced enough to be taught.
Braelyn held her breath as she watched a group of Blood Elf soldiers dispatching a group of ghouls. So many, she thought anxiously, referring to both ghouls and Sin'dorei. When the last of the ghouls fell, the soldiers marched off, and Braelyn groaned as she realised there must be some sort of settlement or garrison nearby.
"Great, just frickin' fantastic," she muttered, slowly moving forward. "Bitey, stay close to me."
It was an awful feeling, walking through Ghostlands. Everything was tainted with death, and it was hard finding any cover to try and mask her movements. Every time she moved into the open, she felt like she was naked, with a bullseye painted on her back. She began to feel as grey as the environment.
She made it to a large boulder situated dangerously close to a road leading into a small village. The area wasn't deserted, though, and Braelyn nearly had a heart attack when a Forsaken apothecary actually came and leaned against the boulder she was hiding behind. She clutched Bitey to her, afraid the lynx would alert him to their presence.
Braelyn waited and waited, her anxiety mounting by the second. She gave a silent cheer of relief when she heard the Forsaken walk away. The relief was short lived as her ears made out the sound of a motorised mount approaching.
Oh, Light, not them, not them, please not them!
She risked turning so she could kneel and peek around the boulder. She buried her face into the stone when her fears were confirmed; Rommath, Boxer, and Halduron were riding up the road leading to the town.
Braelyn watched as they stopped to talk to the Forsaken. She assumed they were asking about her or the raiders. She resigned herself to another agonising wait, and an even more difficult escape, when a surprising idea popped into her head.
Run.
Braelyn frowned. Running was the most stupid thing she could do in this situation, but she could not stop thinking about it. If it she weren't on her own, she would've sworn that someone was attempting to mind control her.
Run. Run. RUN!
Without any further conscious thought, Braelyn took off, running as fast as she could. She was headed towards a group of trees growing at the top of a sharp downward slope, which was dangerous as anything could be waiting for her at the bottom. She had almost made it to the desperately needed shadow when she heard shouting.
Braelyn turned. Rommath, Halduron, and Boxer were staring at her. Boxer was laughing, slapping his knee in his mirth. Halduron just seemed surprised, while Rommath looked... relieved. The emotion was so unexpected that Braelyn actually paused, staring at the mage in shock.
When she saw Rommath start to move, Braelyn came to her senses and began running again. She headed downhill, and her foot slipped when the ground crumbled beneath her. She pitched forward, tucking herself into a loose ball to roll the rest of the way without injuring herself, though she knew she'd have bruises from where her bow and quiver dug into her back.
She rolled smoothly up into a crouch when she reached the bottom of the slope, and came face to face with a group of Scourge. Automatically reaching for her weapon, she couldn't help but let out a blood curdling scream as the ghouls began to swarm around her.
When Rommath saw Braelyn running through the outskirts of Tranquilien, he was both relieved and worried. She was alone, her Kal'dorei lover nowhere in sight, and she seemed to be running blind, in area infested with the Scourge, and Blood Elf forces, not all of whom would know of the human's importance.
He and his companions shouted out, and to Rommath's surprise, the woman stopped, looking over at them. She seemed shocked to the see them, but why would she be? She knew they were pursuing her.
Braelyn did not pause for long, charging downhill and further into danger when she saw Rommath heading in her direction. "Stubborn wench!" he swore, then tensed when he heard her scream in terror.
Spurring their mounts forwards, the small group raced to see what had happened to cause Braelyn to cry out like that. When they reached the slope, the hawkstridders began to screech and buck. Boxer slammed on his brakes as Rommath and Halduron dismounted quickly to avoid being thrown. Free from their riders, the vibrant birds ran, clearly in a panic.
"Hell's bells!" Boxer exclaimed. It was obvious what had spooked the birds; the Scourge were everywhere... and Braelyn was right in the middle of them.
The human hunter had managed to disengage herself, leaping backwards in order to give herself some much-needed space. Rommath watched in amazement as Braelyn managed to kill three ghouls with a single arrow, while a lynx mauled a forth that had attempted to flank its master. Human and animal moved with a grace he didn't realise humans possessed, seeming to communicate with their bodies and not words. He noticed the tip of her arrow glow blue with arcane energy as it flew through the air and lodged in the eye of another attacker. Ducking and weaving, her pale brown hair streaming out behind her, she seemed almost impervious to the attacks sent her way.
Beautiful, Rommath thought. There's no other word to describe her.
"She's good," Halduron said with appreciation. "Very good. A Beast Master going by how well her new pet is doing."
"We need to get her out of there," Rommath growled, beginning to focus his mana, never taking his eyes off Braelyn. His growl turned into a feral snarl as Brealyn reached for an arrow, only to come up empty handed. She tried to disengage again, only to find she'd been surrounded. Her lynx circled around her, snapping at anything that got too close, but eventually their luck ran out and Braelyn was struck, falling to her knees.
Rommath hadn't felt so angry, or afraid, in over a hundred years.
It was over.
Braelyn knew it the moment she reached for ammunition that wasn't there, hand grabbing uselessly at the air. Bitey, her beautiful, brave lynx tried his best to shield her from the inevitable. She ordered him away, but he wouldn't leave her. At least I won't be alive to see another pet die, she thought.
When the blow came, it didn't hurt as much as she'd expected it to. It knocked her to her knees, and she felt dazed, stunned, unable to focus on anything beyond her own imminent demise.
Bitsie's gonna be pissed when we meet up in the afterlife, she thought idly, what with me dying to the Scourge after the Lich King was defeated.
Braelyn lifted her head she when she realised the ghouls were up close and personal. Jutting her chin out, she spat on the nearest ghoul and said, "Hurry up and get on with it, arseholes."
But death once again eluded the hunter. She grunted in surprise as the ghouls in front of her disintegrated in a ball of fire. She heard arrows flying through the air and thud into the undead behind her. She had the presence of mind to roll out of the way of the corpses, and then staggered to her feet.
"Come to me, Braelyn!" she heard Rommath call, but she stayed where she was. A few minutes ago, she was running away from this man. Running towards him now just seemed so... fickle, even if a rebellious part of her heart was now telling her to be the most fickle woman in Azeroth, if it meant being with him again.
She looked over to Rommath, seeing him fire bolt a few of the remaining ghouls, while Boxer picked off a few with some throwing knives. He frowned. "For once in your life, woman, stop being such a stubborn fool!" he yelled.
That got her moving. "Such a charming man," she snarked tiredly. "I bet that's why all the ladies love you." Halduron laughed.
"Oh, yeah, he has to beat them off with his staff," the Ranger General said. Rommath sent his friend a filthy look. Halduron gave his best innocent look and smiled.
"Ya know, toots, you're a lady," Boxer said, a grin on his face. Braelyn blushed.
"I'll kill you," she threatened the Goblin half-heartedly. She could feel Rommath staring at her, "don't think that I won't." She frowned as the ground rumbled beneath her feet. "Why is the earth moving?"
"Abomination!" Halduron yelled, reaching for his bow. Rommath darted forward and grabbed Braelyn, shoving her behind him. She stepped away, turning to Halduron.
"Halduron, I need ammo!" she said. She was surprised when the elf handed her his spare quiver.
"What are you doing?" Rommath hissed. "She needs to get out of here."
"I can fight!" Braelyn protested. "You know I can."
"Fine," the mage snapped, "but it you try and run away from me again, you will spend the rest of your life encased in ice." Braelyn stuck her tongue out at him, but nodded her agreement.
It turned out there were two abominations, and Braelyn had never seen anything so ugly. And the smell... it was enough to make her want to throw up. If not for the fact she hadn't eaten that day, she might very well have done just that.
They were slow, lumbering monstrosities, and a few of Rommath's frostfire bolts had them almost stationary. Boxer, who had some skill as a warrior, set about hacking at their legs, while Braelyn and Halduron peppered them with arrows. Rommath was bombarding them with a flamestrike, and looked like he was enjoying every second of it.
Braelyn was amazed at how much damage they were able to take, having never fought an abomination before. Her arrows struck their faces and chest, but it was as if she were firing at a training dummy. The arrow pierced the skin by several inches, yet didn't seem to bother the scourge minions at all. They just looked at their wounds, and carried on.
Eventually, one of the abominations fell, and Boxer gave a little cheer as it fell. The other was still on its feet, but failing fast. Rommath was having to keep it trapped using a nova blast to stop it rampaging about in fury. One last flurry of arrows from Braelyn and Halduron, the last they had, saw it roar in agony and fall to the ground.
As it did so, it flung out its meaty arm, sending a hook at the end of a long and heavy chain flying towards the hunters. Halduron was able to throw himself out of the way, reaching for Braelyn as he did so, but he missed. He watched as she tried to duck to one side, only to be struck by the full force of the chain.
Braelyn didn't scream. There was only time for a brief flash of overwhelming pain as she was thrown violently through the air and onto some rocks. Not again, she thought, before the darkness claimed her.
AN - Muahahahahahaha. I am the mistress of evil cliffhangers. Seriously though, it's the most logical stopping point. If you're playing the drinking game, you should probably be drunk by now. Bohmzawe, is that what those lychee mojitos were about? ;)
Next chapter: Braelyn is getting real tired of your shit, life. Denaria's jealousy threatens to derail the fragile peace between Braelyn and Rommath, but may come back to bite the pesky warlock in the arse.