You've been hit by
You've been hit by
A smooth criminal
~Smooth Criminal-Michael Jackson~
They built a large camp beside an Ogre ruin. The mission specialists, several of Jaaral's men, Jaaral himself and the image of Khadgar. One of Toriona's human mages, although shorter than Cordana, dressed up in a Warden cloak and helm.
For all intents and purposes, it was a working camp designed to collect Abjugator stones. Although they didn't need them, the idea was to make a legitimate looking arena to stage their trap. The entire area around the Archmage's tent was one large arcane trap. The wards placed around the area were weak and designed to be easily penetrated.
From their place in the Tower, Khadgar and Cordana watched closely through a crystal orb. Khadgar would channel his image on and off, sending it into the tent when he wished to stop. It was important that he show interest in the stones that were retrieved, and they had a bit of a laugh about the amount they were collecting. If they had concentrated on that one spot when they had needed them earlier it would have gone much quicker. However, the end result would have been the same.
Days passed, then a week.
No assassin.
In the middle of the second week, Cordana awoke at night to relieve herself. The baby was hanging around on her bladder making it rather uncomfortable, and she would awake several times, relieve herself, then check on the orb before going back to bed.
The camp had settled in for the night. The fire was reduced to embers and everyone had gone to their respective tents. She turned away when something caught her eye. The Archmage's tent flap moved.
There was a sudden flare of light and the tent disappeared leaving a glowing purple dome over a very stunned humanoid female.
"Khadgar!" shouted Cordana.
The Archmage sat up with a start and stared at her. "What is it Cordana? Is something wrong?"
"No, I think we got the assassin!"
He was out of the bed in a quick moment. "Well look at that! I believe our plan worked!"
There was a commotion from the other tents and Jaaral stepped out, sword drawn. He saw the prisoner in the arcane dome apparently cursing a blue streak and put his sword away.
It was a sweet victory and everyone rested better then they had in a long time that night.
Khadgar watched with sadness as the prisoner cursed and flung herself at the magical walls holding her. She acted as a wild animal one moment, then was subdued and quiet the next. There was no doubt there was a terrible madness about her, and Khadgar and Cordana could not help but feel pity for the poor creature.
Khadgar walked up close to the prison and placed his hand on it.
"Garona..." he said softly.
Cordana's eyes widened. "You know her, Khadgar?"
He nodded slowly, then stepped back as the assassin launched herself at him, and was bounced back by the walls of the arcane prison.
"At least, I knew the version of her from our timeline. She was my friend, in an awkward sort of way. We had a friendship built on a shaky foundation with my Master as our common ground. But this Garona does not know me. I do not know what became of the one from our time."
Cordana had little knowledge of Khadgar's life with his Master other then the scant bits he shared with her occasionally. She had never cared about a person's history much, she preferred to judge them in the current moment, leaving old things in the past. The Warden realized then that her mate must have had friends and yes, even a mother and father and possibly siblings once. Those things had never mattered much to her, but as she looked at his sad, reflective eyes Cordana wished she had cared enough to ask him about the life he had before they had met. It did matter. It mattered a lot.
Cordana studied the strange looking prisoner.
"What is she? She does not look like a pureblood Orc, nor is she human or Kaldorei."
Khadgar turned away and took Cordana's hand. "Come my love. I shall tell you what you wish to know, inside the Tower away from this madness."
Cordana was filled with curiosity, and Khadgar's demeanor was quiet. She could tell he was affected by this alternate version of his friend.
"Garona is the product of a mating between one of Gul'Dan's generals and the sister of Vindicator Maraad. She is half orc, half Draenei. She was sent as a spy to Karazhan and that is where I met her. We did not like each other at all to begin with. She loathed humans and I loathed Orcs. Garona developed feelings for my master, and she later became pregnant with his child."
Cordana shook her head in disbelief. "That wild creature is a mother? Where is her child?"
"I know she had a son, but where he is I do not know. Remember, this Garona is a different person all together and may not have had the same life. This one is not my friend, this one is nothing but an assassin whose mind we must break to extract its secrets."
His voice had no passion, no emotion. He had perhaps thought that the assassin would be an unknown subject, easy to trap and use. It made the most sense. But seeing the image of his old friend reflected in the demon spawn in the arcane prison had shocked him. To save himself the pain, the Archmage had turned off his feelings and forced himself to see Garona as nothing more than another pawn in Gul'Dan's army.
"What is your plan, Khadgar?"
He walked around the room, thinking. "Gul'Dan will not give up control of his pet without a fight. It will be difficult, but we must prevail. Follow me, Cordana, but stay back."
He led her outside, back to Garona.
The half orc glared at him, her eyes filled with hate. "Just kill me and be done with it, Archmage!" she growled.
"I am not here to kill you, assassin," he said, his voice hard.
He spoke a few words in the magical tongue and his hands glowed blue, then orange then red. A stream of bright light spiralled towards Garona. She clutched her head and screamed in pain, falling to her knees.
"Where is your master?" demanded Khadgar.
"Burn...in a thousand...hells!" snarled Garona, grunting.
"You first! Where is Gul'Dan?"
Garona forced herself to stand and clawed at the walls. "He...will...undo...you!"
"Where is he hiding?" shouted Khadgar. He increased the power of his channel, and Garona fell to the ground, writhing. "Tell me!"
His eyes were hard and the expression on his face one that Cordana did not recognize as the gentle, kind, father of her child. Fear gripped her.
"Khadgar, stop!" she cried. "What is the difference between this and torture?"
His gaze snapped to hers and the darkness, the coldness emanating from his eyes stunned her.
"But she knows!" he snarled at her.
Cordana stared at him, her eyes wide, all color drained from her face. She held both hands over her belly in a gesture of protection.
"This is wrong, Khadgar! You cannot do this!"
He returned her stare, every bit of softness in his face completely gone, his lips a hard, tight line. "I can and I will do what needs to be done! You cannot be both with and against me on this mission, Cordana!
"I don't think I even know you right now," she said quietly.
He turned back to Garona, still channeling his dreadful spell as she curled up in a ball clutching her head and moaning in agony.
Cordana stepped up to Khadgar and pulled his channeling arm down with one hand while turning his face to her with the other. His concentration broke and the spell was interrupted.
"Khadgar..." she said gently. "Look at me."
His eyes met hers. What lay behind them was not the expression of the man she loved. By Elune, she thought. What is happening to you my love?
"You are letting Gul'Dan control you also. You are allowing him to change who you are. There is a better way to get what we need than this. You do not need to torture her and shatter her mind."
Suddenly, whatever it was that had taken hold of him disappeared, and she was looking at her Khadgar once more, the gentle one with the kind, soft eyes.
"You...you're right. Gul'Dan has butchered her mind already."
He walked up to the prison. "I'm sorry Garona, we will find another way."
The assassin slowly got to her feet and stared at him with eyes filled with rage and madness. It was evident that Gul'Dan still maintained complete control of her.
Khadgar entered the Tower and faced Cordana who was standing behind him. He slowly gathered her into his arms.
"I am sorry that I frightened you my love, but so much is reliant on what is in Garona's mind! It is imperative that we free her from Gul'Dan's control!"
The Warden let him hold her and took comfort from his warmth and his soft voice. He stroked her hair gently.
"I cannot give up on this, Cordana."
She said nothing, but disengaged and went to the couch and sat down, curling her legs under her.
"That blasted demon has his hooks so deep in her mind," said Khadgar. "Traditional magical methods are not helping her. It is time to get unconventional."
He began to pace again, Cordana's eyes following him.
"I know that the Shadow Council uses Orbs of Dominion to take control of their prisoner's minds. We need to get a hold of one of those things!"
Cordana was horrified. "Khadgar, you can't! That is dark magic!"
"It is the only way I can think of, we must take that risk!"
"I won't stand by and watch you torture her again! She is an assassin yes, she is mind controlled yes, but she is a living being just the same! What has come over you, Khadgar?!"
He smiled at her in his most reassuring way. "It will be fine my love."
"Dark magic preys on your doubts and weaknesses. Once it gets it's tendrils into you, you are forever changed. Please find another way!" she pleaded.
He did not respond, but conjured up a tome and began leafing through it. His tunnel vision had taken over and he could not think of, hear, nor speak of anything outside of it. Cordana stood up.
"I am going to lie down, Khadgar," she said.
He smiled distractedly and looked up at her for a moment, then went back to his research.
Cordana crept onto the bed and lay curled up on her side, her hand stroking her belly. She felt little Khadgar roll over as well, but he did not kick or punch. He didn't move and followed his mother's lead and went to sleep.
She awoke later on, Khadgar sitting on the bed next to her gently stroking her hair.
"Cordana," he whispered softly. "I know where we can find an Orb of Dominion. I want you to come with me."
Had he gone mad? Taking her into some light forsaken place, at 8 months pregnant, to retrieve an orb of dark magic? What was he thinking?
"No," she said flatly.
He tried to turn her over. "No? An adventure, just the two of us! Weak minded shadow council members are not a threat to either of us, Cordana. We could walk in and walk out in moments."
She slowly sat up, shifting the baby inside her. "Have you forgotten, Archmage, that I am rather compromised at this time? I do not react as quickly as I need to, and when dealing with the shadow council, anything can happen. A rogue demon could suddenly break loose of its confines, or a battle between members could break out. You said yourself, they are weak minded!"
He lay his hand on her belly and felt the gentle movements of his son. "Cordana," he chided. "You know I would not place you in danger. This is not worthy of the mission specialists. It is too simple a task to carry out. You stay here, I shall go and be back before you know it."
"Khadgar! No! You cannot do this. Send someone else."
"Do you not trust me enough to keep you and our baby safe from harm, Cordana? Do you not think that at the slightest real threat, I would not teleport you far and away from any danger?"
She stopped and looked at his disappointed expression. She sighed. "Yes...I do trust you Khadgar. I am just very protective of our child."
"As I am of both of you! Now will you come with me? Please?"
She could not say no to him. Being at his side was the safest place she could think of.
"How exactly do you believe that getting this Orb of Dominion will help us with Garona's situation?" she asked.
"The Orb attracts negative Fel energy. It is this Fel energy that allows a warlock to possess an individual to do their bidding. Most of the weak minded peons of the Shadow Council can be so easily manipulated by any warlock with a semi command of their craft. In the case of Garona, it is Gul'Dan himself who has control of her. It is a much more difficult situation to breech, but with the use of one of these Orbs, infused with my own power, I hope to draw the Fel out of her, which will shut down his pathways into her mind. I tried to override it with my own arcane power but she is so twisted up inside and...well...you know how that went."
Cordana nodded. "I would rather forget. Well, I will prepare for the journey. I have had to have the armor part of my encounter suit altered to accommodate my changing self," she said. "I will dress and then help you with your battle gear."
"Nonsense my love! I will assist you. I can dress myself just fine."
Khadgar teleported them as close as possible. He did not want Cordana to have to walk far, and she was not comfortable riding her Moonsabre anymore. Her cloak hid her pregnancy and she walked with the same grace she always had, although she told him she felt anything but graceful.
The Shadow Council base he had chosen to victimize was a small one, most likely commanded by a lower level Lieutenant with lesser to no magical ability. These bases were used as a recruiting station for new members, people who were lured in with promises of great power and great rewards. Gul'Dan was a crafty devil, good at manipulating and lying. There never seemed to be a shortage of fresh meat to fill the ranks.
Khadgar walked up to the entrance of the base and shot two arcane missiles, killing the two Shadow Council members guarding the entrance. They met a patrol of three men and a Felhound, and once again, a simple concussive blast ended them in a split second. The peons that served in this place were extremely weak, as he had thought. It was like taking candy from a baby. They put up little to no resistance. From her position in stealth, nothing was directed at her and she was free to roam around, keeping Khadgar in sight.
It was a disgusting place, with corpses laying about waiting for reanimation, the stench of death thick in the air, making her nauseous at times. There were bones and half eaten carcasses, food for the Felhounds and other monsters that no doubt roamed the halls.
They needed to find the section where the new recruits were taken, but there were so many twists and turns that it was impossible to remember where you had or hadn't been.
"You needn't fear, Cordana," said Khadgar when she voiced her concern. "I am placing magical beacons as we walk, that only I can see. Breadcrumbs, if you will. We will be fine."
She followed him through the reeking near darkness, avoiding people as much as possible, and killing those who could not be avoided.
"They could bring down the entire base on me and not one of them would be left standing," he said. "I have no worries about this place being a threat." There was disgust in his voice as they stepped over a torn apart carcass of what appeared to have once been a large wolf.
They both smelled sulfur and stopped. "There is a demon nearby, let us see if we can find it! There would be a strong orb nearby if so."
They came upon a few ritualists binding a large winged demon in a magic circle. The creature had a second face in the middle of its body. Both Cordana and Khadgar saw that there was very little control to be had in that room. The demon was biding its time, and the ritualists seemed to have little inkling that they had minutes left to live.
"I shall do them a favor," said Khadgar, his hands glowing in anticipation. He rushed into the room, releasing a barrage of arcane power that knocked the ritualists down. As they scrambled about disoriented, the demon broke free of their tenuous hold. It leaped on the nearest person, tearing them in half and throwing the halves onto the floor. With a dreadful string of curses in the demonic tongue the demon turned to another ritualist, who screamed and cowered. Disgusted, Cordana threw her umbral crescent and decapitated the fool.
It felt good to her to be active again, her blood was moving through her veins fast and she was excited. She raced to the demon, flitting from one end of it to the other, infuriating it, making it lunge for her, flap towards her and lash its nasty tail. Khadgar heard her laughter echo through the room. She was in her element again, doing what she loved best and was damn good at. Wardens traditionally hated all demonkind, and Cordana was no different. She excelled at fighting them.
Khadgar provided her with supportive magic, allowing her to do what she needed to do. Even he could not follow her movements, she was so fast and untrackable. He saw deep cuts appear on the demon and it roared in pain and rage.
Then it stopped and turned, and small portals opened up around the room. Khadgar knew what was coming.
"Cordana!" he yelled as loud as he possibly could. "To my side, NOW!"
She responded instantly as hundreds of small implike demons began pouring out of the portal.
"I cannot fight this many," she said, sounding winded. "There was an Orb here, I saw it when we came in. It was near where the ritualists had their circle, on the far side. You get it and I will remove that demon's head from its vile body!"
Khadgar shook his head. "No my love, you are already exhausted. I will get the Orb and get us out of here."
As he blinked away, Cordana arced her arm back, the umbral crescent glinting. She released it with a grunt and it spun towards the demon. Distracted by its minions, it didn't see the deadly blades until it buried itself in its neck. Green fel blood spurted forth, and it screamed and fell to its knees. Cordana recalled her crescent and it flew back to her hand, and she repeated the action.
The dreadful thing's head fell moments before the body followed it, still twitching. Free of its master's control, the imps screeched and began swarming out of control, attacking one another and leaping towards Khadgar and Cordana.
"Damn it, Cordana!" the Archmage cried, blinking back to her side. In a split second he teleported them out of there.
"You actually removed it's head!" exclaimed Khadgar when they landed outside.
Cordana gave him a small smile. "Sometimes it seems as though you forget what I am," she said softly.
He removed her helmet and touched her cheek. "Perhaps you are right," he said giving her a kiss. "I have come to know and love you as my wife, and the expectant mother of my child. I suppose your being a demon hunter became secondary somewhere in there."
As he said the words, her eyes flashed and narrowed, becoming dull. Her voice was restrained. "Khadgar, do not ever refer to me as ...that...I am a Warden of the Enclave. I am your mate and the mother of your son, but never...that other."
He pulled her into an embrace. "Light Cordana, I meant nothing by it. The Wardens of the Enclave are specialists at fighting and hunting demons. It was a logical statement. You were incredible in there. I never meant for any of this adventure to involve such a battle. Are you alright?"
He had to position himself carefully to avoid the blades on her cloak, and she moved only as much as to rest her head on his shoulder.
"I am fine, that thing did not come close to touching me. It was not the weakest of demons but neither was it too fearsome. I believe it was a swarm lord of some sort, it summoned quite a few of those imps and I bet by nightfall that place will be completely gutted by them. So we have done a great service this day. Retrieved what we came for and destroyed a Shadow Council base."
Khadgar cast them another portal. "And we will not even be suspected as the culprits. For all intents and purposes it looks like the neophyte ritualists failed utterly at their task, and destroyed themselves!" Khadgar had a bit of a laugh at the thought of it.
On returning to the Tower, he drew Cordana a bath and gently washed her, trying to relieve any sore, tight muscles she might have developed. She sighed with gratitude and lay back, focusing on his touch and the happy flutters of her son.
"I think our child agrees with battle Khadgar," she said.
"Oh?"
"Yes. He has been awake ever since and very active!"
He lay his hand on her belly. "That is wonderful, Cordana! Although you were right about the unpredictability of missions. I had not intended any fighting but things can happen and I am not going to put you in that position again. I know I was a tad arrogant about all of it, and truthfully I know that I could have laid waste to that entire place on my own but you seemed so happy to fight again I could not deprive you of it. You will not be able to do that anymore going forward."
"Not for awhile in any case," she said softly.
"I wish to use that Orb on Garona right away, but you need some rest and I will want you with me when I do."
"Alright," she answered. She was not going to argue with him, feeling as exhausted as she was, Cordana was too proud to tell him that the entire adventure had destroyed her energy levels and she could most certainly not imagine doing it day after day. She desperately wanted to sleep for a week. Being pregnant was a life draining condition, and she could not understand why anyone would go through it more than once.
Then she looked up at Khadgar, and figured it out.