AN: Double update. Sorry for the delay.

Remember, I love reviews if you feel up to giving them, or just comments if you enjoy or don't enjoy the story. If you enjoy it, please share it with your friends! The more who read, the more eager I am to get more chapters out for you lovely folks!

The forest was eerily quiet. Brinella had become somewhat used to that over the course of the last week, but it still set her fur on edge. Elven territory was beautiful, but the beauty could ensnare a person until senses left them, leaving them open and vulnerable to dangers they normally would have easily avoided.

Darkshore had been little more than a looming nightmare over the three since Ninya had vanished through the portal. The worgen spoke little, never having been one to chat the day away, but Lydros and Winnie had been just as quiet. She knew deep down that they were mourning for a friend that they felt they had lost, but a part of her still didn't want to accept that fact. More than once, Brinella had woken from slumber to hear the rogue's laughter, to see Lydros staring off into the sky as if their friend would simply fall from the heavens, a gift from the Goddess he so revered. Nothing like that happened, and as the days stretched on, they had stopped hoping the sprightly and joyful girl would return to them and all would be as it once was.

Brinella chose to focus on her own goals, thankful for the help of the others as her skills increased, and her name began to spread over the area. At each town or settlement, she would speak with each person in the hopes that someone had seen Cor or her brother. No matter how many times she had asked, the answer was always the same. It darkened her mood even further.

So they had passed through the woodland border, heading deeper and deeper into Ashenvale. It was Lydros who directed them to the small area rumored to hold those who were trying to fight off the orcish and demon invasions of the once-tranquil woods, but it did him no good to see that they were little more than demons themselves. He left Brinella and Winnie in Forest Song, one confused and the other grumbling something foul under her breath.

The draenei who had taken over the glade were peaceful, almost curious creatures themselves. They treated the women with respect and care, mending their wounds when they finished given tasks, and offering them food and drink to replenish their own. Armor was cared for with skill that far surpassed most, and they eagerly watched Brinella dry herbs and create elixirs. As the days passed with no sign of Lydros, the two began to worry.

It was one thing for the hunter to vanish, but Shade was a constant to the two. They knew that if the saber was near, the man was watching them. Not once did Shade appear, and on the fourth day, Winnie threw up her own hands, grabbed her things, and wandered off into the woods as well. On the second night of her absence, Brinella bid farewell to those within the grove, and loped off after her friends.

The night passed slowly, and she found her time spent more with picking the abundant herbs that littered the woods than following the scents that intertwined around the area. Twice she had been made to defend herself against beasts that stood twice her height, blue-skinned and covered in thick grey armor. They were brutal, tactical and quick despite their massive size. The scent that followed them became one she committed to memory quickly, with no desire to run into them again.

Others she skirted easily, not blundering into them as she had the felguards. Their taint wrapped around the woods that they had infested, turning the healthy flora into corrupt and warped figments of their once proud selves. Walking on the earth that had been changed was like walking on fire or blades, each step screaming its protest into her mind. The druid learned quickly about demons, though she had little idea of what they truly were.

There came a point where her steps faltered, and confusion spread in her mind. No more was she following the scent of her friends, who had criss-crossed so much that she had given up on finding them both and settled on finding Lydros first. Wisely, she believed that if she found him, Winnie would no doubt show up, but it was not the lack of a path that drew her up short. It was the feeling beneath her, a corruption different from the sort found around the demons.

Brinella sat back on her haunches, her broad feline muzzle pointed towards an arch of trees that seemed, or so she could feel, to call for her. A lovers beckon, images of Cor flitting through her mind in a tempting array. He was in there, she was certain. Yet something else screamed at her to stay away from the arch, so powerful that she found herself immobilized. Her eyes focused and unfocused, her nose flaring as she breathed in the scent of the area as if it would bring her honesty...

There was nothing. It was that alone that kept her away, the lack of animal scent or movement making her skin crawl. This place was too perfect, calling for her to rest and become lost amidst the boughs. It was a dream-like place, and if Brinella looked long enough, she felt as if the space between the arch of branches was warping before her eyes. With an enormous amount of conviction, she forced herself to accept that the one she looked for was not within that area.

But something was nearby. Her ears flicked, moonlight pouring over russet fur before becoming shadows again. Rising from her seat, the feline melted away into worgen, and Brinella crouched to all fours to catch the curious scent. It trailed away, past the arch and into the underbrush nearby, as if someone had thundered through the growth in pursuit of prey. The scent was strange, a mix of sweat and fear that was almost enticing to one who could become prone to feral moments like Brinella could.

She followed it to the point of entry, sniffing around the bushes for anything more. Whatever it was, it wasn't Winnie or Lydros, and that was truly all that mattered to her. With a final look at the strange grove and surrounding trees, she turned away and loped back the way she had come. It was midnight when she finally curled up, her fur melting away to bare skin while she huddled beneath the blanket, her satchel acting as a pillow.

A simple sound woke her. A shuffled foot, fabric rubbing against fabric, and tugging. A strange tugging as if something was trying to get an item from her pack. She waited as the movement stopped, and when it began once more, her hand left the blankets and snapped up lightning quick, fingers gripping coarse hair and pulling. Whatever was attached squealed unlike any animal she knew, and with a mighty heave, she pulled the flailing person around to her front.

She was struck dumb by the ugly little creature. Her fingers, already stretching as adrenaline triggered the shift from human to worgen, were curled in hair that was raggedly cut and dyed a moss green that was almost sickly. The green skin was slick with sweat, her robes dirty and ragged. In her tiny hands, Brinella's map was clutched, the humanoid's wide grey eyes looking on in fear as Brinella's mouth and face molded and stretched into the fearsome canine features.

They stared at each other for long moments, one seeming terrified and the other simply curious, until at last the tiny figure lifted her arm, and threw the thick rolled map over Brinella's head. It was then that she realized there had to be someone else, and in comical slow motion, she watched it sail over her ears and out of her reach to be caught by another humanoid. For a moment, she stared in awe.

The male couldn't have been much taller than the average human male, but his features were delicate where a humans were rough. Golden hair fell into one eye while the rest was bound in a tail that had been pulled over his shoulder. His eyes, focused on the map that flew through the air between them, were green. His robes and the staff across his back spoke of magic, but it was the ears that caught her off guard. She was sure he was little more than a pretty human man, but those alone told her he was something else.

Brinella tossed the kicking and squirming captive aside with a flick of her large paw, already turning and half-feline before Mixie ever hit the grass. No matter how beautiful the man might have been, he was stealing! A growl ripped from her throat, and his eyes went wide as she landed in front of him, already curled and tensed to strike.

"Down!"

She wasn't sure who he was yelling at, but his eyes were on her. Slowly, his hands came up, held in a way that she knew meant peace, but a side of her that had been worried had broken free, and worry had made her irrational. The command was barked again as she lunged for him, her jaws open to clamp down around an arm that never made it into her mouth. He moved like the wind, out of her range and around, moving close to pick up the seething goblin girl and make a break for the woods.

Brinella wouldn't allow that. With a roar that shook the trees, she took off after the both of them. They broke through the woods, entering a second glen that could barely be more than a few feet of bare grass. The smaller of the two tripped, and yelped as Brinella barreled over her in her determination to reach Kalthor.

"Down, girl! Dog! Cat! Whatever you are!" The man stumbled, clasping the map to his chest with one hand and covering his neck with the other. A scuffle broke out, with Brinella acting more like a cat trying to get something from beneath a piece of furniture than the muscle and sinew force of nature that she was. "Druid! Down!"

There was a twang, a shock of air past an ear, and Brinella went still. Kalthor stopped moving as well, his eyes leveled on the arrow lodged halfway into the soft soil. She could feel him swallow, his body rigid. Behind them, there was the sound of something else. The haze of predator died as Winnie rolled past them, her legs wrapped tightly around the legs of the goblin girl, while both of them punched and scratched at each other.

"Back off, Brinella." Lydros' voice was quiet, his attention focused completely on the one the feline was almost proudly sitting on. It couldn't have been comfortable, and was likely frightening as Shade joined Brinella in inspecting the intruder. With a shout of triumph, Winnie managed to pin the goblin down in a compromising position, the goblin firing off curses from beneath Winnie's leather clad backside. "The arrow wasn't meant for him. Don't make me shoot twice."

With a huff, the druid stood and removed herself from Kalthor's back, leaving the warlock gasping for air. She did not move far, sniffing idly at his hair and face. He smelled familiar, and yet she couldn't quite place it. Something just barely there, a part of him and yet not. So wrapped up in her investigation, she didn't notice the two were conversing until Winnie made a comment about being rude. Brinella was stunned back into her worgen form when Lydros moved close, offering a hand to the fallen man.

"What are ye doin', man? Tha's a felsucker! Enemy o' our people!" Winnie glared at the two elves, prodding the still squirming and cussing bundle of flesh beneath her. "Shaddup down there, pipsqueak. An' if ye bite anythin', I'll show ye my hammer from ye'r insides."

Lydros' tone was solemn when he spoke, almost seeming to push the words out from between his teeth. "This is Kalthor Flareblade." He motioned towards the map that the blonde was holding, his other hand putting the arrow back in the quiver along his back. "Arcanist, troublemaker, and..." The hunter looked like he had swallowed excrement, "the maker of that map."