The two didn't remain for much longer after that. Colin had done enough of his drawing to make it legible, but Vylira insisted the two go on, embarrassed by what she'd done already. Colin bemusedly acquiesced and the two returned to Emawreth, who growled at the sight of them returning so long after leaving.
"We grew up together," Vylira explained as she stroked the bridge of the cat's nose, "So she gets a bit upset when we're separated for long. I've spent many a night sleeping against her curled up body; our nightsabers are, more often than not, our closest allies."
Emawreth purred, recognizing that she was being talked about, and Vylira eventually hopped onto her saddle, helping pull Colin up behind her. Whatever hardcore discretionary trait Kyra had, Vylira must have had it to, as she pulled Colin's arms back around her waist as though nothing intimate had occurred. As much as she wanted to enjoy a partner, she couldn't help being a night elf, naturally used to closeness between people of both sexes. Colin was far more uncomfortable with such a thing.
This time, thankfully, Emawreth made her way through the forest more at a prance this time around, giving Colin a chance to relax and enjoy the scenery. The two remained quiet for a while, though Vylira was the first to speak up, obviously having been deep in thought.
"I see couples, like those two back at the retreat," she began, disillusioned, "And I want that. Maybe I'm just getting older, but my being a soldier won't last, you know? My children will, though. What I do back in Darnassus may. There will always be wars, no matter how many you kill."
Colin brought up, "I thought night elves weren't supposed to fall for mortals."
He noticed her head lower slightly, feeling a bit uncomfortable now that he's mentioned it, but after a short time, she answered, "I mean, it's a personal preference. Some of us fall in love, love immensely, and after our partner dies, we mourn, then stumble upon another. I can't say I wouldn't be into that, not that I'm unfaithful; it's just the nature of what is. I know Kyra…"
She paused, before sighing heavily, "I know you love her or whatever. I'm just afraid that she'll never budge. I know she desperately wants companionship, but she will only ever settle for one. If that were you, you know; that's a lot of years after you die…"
Colin lowered his head, saddened, as Vylira continued, "I have no doubt that you're a man who can love for a thousand years in only sixty, but it's just not the same. I've had friends who have died. Just friends. Even that was difficult to bear. Especially when we start feeling guilty, almost, that we're so close to immortality; then we begin questioning our own nature, and then nothing good can come of it."
She finished, "I'm not saying to give up. I'm just telling you what Kyra expects from life. Maybe if it were you, she'd change her ideals, but I don't know. It's the kind of thing that drive people like us insane."
Colin smiled lightly, "So it's just like everybody else."
Vylira grinned herself as they approached a fork in the road. Colin wasn't able to gather anything in the way of bearings on the way up, so he wouldn't have noticed them going another way this time unless his guide had spoken up.
"We're going to go check up on Kyra real quick, if you don't mind," Vylira muttered l, almost to herself, "I know it was just some elemental trouble, but with that Horde attack the other day, I'd like to be sure."
Before Colin could chuckle, Vylira shot back at him, "I know, I know; I cant help but worry about her."
As they rode deeper into the forest, Colin could tell that the general area just became darker and darker. He knew that there were remnants of fel demons and such here, and that the Horde lumber mills were probably causing some of the life to be sucked out from the atmosphere, but he had no real evidence to back that. By now, he was a bit too apprehensive to even ask.
Soon enough, the two came to a horrific sight. Two dead bodies, night elves, along with a dead nightsaber, whose paws had been hacked off. Vylira stared at the scene, examining it from atop Emawreth. Colin couldn't help but do the same, though he was rather terrified by the brutality of it all.
"It's recent," Vylira spoke gravely, "They would have come back and made an example of the two bodies had it been a while ago."
She thought for a moment, raining in Emawreth, who was becoming more and more agitated, "We'll go back to Astranaar and get help. From there we can-"
"What if they're around here and need help?" Colin interrupted, forcing a frown upon Vylira's face.
"It's a miracle we aren't already under attack," she spoke, hastily, "We need to get back. We'll-"
Suddenly, a loud burst of gunfire broke through the still air, forcing Emawreth to suddenly break into a frightened dash, knocking Colin off and into some if the foliage off the road. He tried to regain his bearings, but couldn't recover in time to find where Vylira was. He figured she knew enough of what to do, so he simply stayed hidden, looking around to find where the sound had come from.
Sure enough, an orc carrying a sort of wagon came down the road, a blunderbuss in his hand, carefully surveying the area. He muttered some words to himself before concluding the coast was clear, then began to pick up the two bodies on the ground, hosting them onto his wagon.
Colin tried to listen in, but couldn't have understood much even if he could. He could speak Certain dialects of troll Zandali, and even some goblin languages; whenever speaking to an orc, he had had an interpreter. Nevertheless, he could tell the man was agitated as he looked around a final time, his gun outstretched. Satisfied, he spun the wagon around and began walking off.
Carefully, Colin looked back toward where he thoughts Astranaar was, initially thinking about running off to find Vylira or just anybody not ready to kill him on sight. Quickly, however, his mind went to Kyra; specifically what she had said to him just the night before. She had promised to be his moon; to be a more physical form of Elune, so as to better enact her will for him, or something like that. She had pledged to protect him. Now she need protecting.
Then he thought about Darkshore, and that faded memory of himself trudging through the dark forest, just about to succumb to his injuries. That was where it had stopped for days, but for a while now, he could remember just past that point; he saw a small group of night elves and a dwarf, emerging through the trees, and the one of them running toward him faster than any of the others.
To this end, Colin turned toward the wagon that was now rolling out of his view. He stared it down, suddenly coming to the conclusion that he knew was right. He kept to the shadows, tracking the armed orc, calling back to that time within Ban'ethil Hollow, though this time, he was working among smart creatures. Creatures that would easily kill him.
Colin ducked between some more foliage, watching the orc strolling along with the same wagon in tow as he turned into Splintertree Post. Colin could instantly tell how difficult it would be for him to get into, and he instantly rubbed his face in exasperation. There was an entrance, but one side of the strip of Horde buildings was lined with small cliffs, giving him an idea.
He quietly made his way across the road and around to the back of the settlement, pleased to see the cliff wasn't being patrolled. He laid down and crawled to the edge, examining the area below him. The orc wagoner had made it to a massive bonfire in the middle of the post and pulled another orc over to help him as the two picked the two bodies up and tossed them into the fire, the wagoner making a threatening gesture to a series of cages nearby with each throw.
Colin could tell that the cages were, indeed, inhabited, though he couldn't tell by whom, or whichever one held Kyra. He planned on freeing everybody anyway, but he knew Kyra would immediately have a grasp of whatever situation arose.
Carefully, he made his way down the cliffside, which was particlally obscured by one of the taller buildings, so he felt secure in any case. It was a sheer cliff, so every move he made, he was sure to make slowly. As he made his way down, methodically, a pebble fell from the rock face and landed atop one of the cages, and Colin could hear hushed whispers in Darnassian.
Finally, as he came into view of the captors, who were all staring in his direction now, he immediately noticed Kyra, laying down in her cage against one of the sides, nursing her leg as she watching him, shocked.
"You're not Vylira?!" she whispers, dumbfounded.
Colin quickly picked up a nearby sword that had been left there, probably to kill the prisoners later, "No; she went off to get help. Well, more help."
Kyra, who seemed more angry that he had come, rather than why he was here, shook her head is dismay as she addressed the others in Darnassisn. Colin was fiddling with one of the locks, so he couldn't catch it, but the woman in the cage that he was unlocking poked her hands out between the bars, helping him maneuver the sword into the locking mechanism.
Suddenly, a click sounded and the door creaked open, leaving the night elf within holding it just ajar until the others were freed. Colin moved over to the next cage, careful to avoid detection and Kyra's disappointed stares. As he finished unlocking everybody's locks, he slowly opened the gate to Kyra's cage, kneeling down to check on her leg.
"It's no big deal," she confirmed, vaguely, "I guess it was a good thing you'd gotten here. The orcs here tend to murder their prisoners if there seems to be an imminent attack."
Colin sighed, "Well, I guess it cant always be good news. How about this; once Vylira gets here, the others here join in and create a distraction while I carry you out the back way. Okay?"
Not happy to be taking such a diminished role, Kyra solemnly nodded. However, it didn't take long at all until they all began to hear the rumblings of a commotion. Without even seeing what was going on, the encaged Sentinels quickly exited, rushing over to Kyra, who directed them in Darnassian, sending them off. With that, Colin helped her up, wrapping his arm under her shoulders, and the two made their escape as Kyra hopped along with her one good leg. Colin kept the dull sword from before in his hand, hoping to at least use it for intimidation.
The two quickly left the small settlement, not even looking backwards. They didn't speak, Colin, due to a fear of being caught still, and Kyra because of the pain and due to being helped off. They made it far enough away for Colin to sigh in relief.
"Okay," he spoke, "Looks like that should be- AAH!"
Instantly, the two fell to the ground, Colin nursing a sharp pain in his knees. He spun around on the ground to see the orc from earlier, the wagoner, angrily waving around an axe. He had thrown a giant club at Colin's legs to stop the two.
"Gol'kosh," the orc spoke before raising his voice, loud enough to nearly rupture the earth beneath them, "Trk'hsk!"
Kyra desperately tried to stand up, but fell when her leg instantly gave way. Though in pain, Colin managed to get up, and he held his sword out in front of him, unshakily.
"Antu'fon!" Colin shouted, summoning whatever Zadalari he could, "Antu'fon!"
The orc only seemed to be amused, as he continued toward the two. Colin stretched out his sword further as the orc gained speed, running at the two and shouting out a war cry before raising his sword, not three feet away from Colin.
In a blur, Colin went blank for a second. The air around him seemed eerily still. He felt like he was shaking a mile a minute, though his hands were unmoving. As he came to, he first noticed the anguished face of the orc, impaled upon the sword in Colin's hand.
Instantly, Colin began to shake, gasping for air and not immediately knowing what to do with hands. Finally, he let go with a quick motion, stepping back as the orc fell to his side and burying its face in the dirt below. In that moment, Colin was back in Theramore, back to a child; seeing the same faces contorted in pain and agony, yet so still as they lay upon corpses. He remained there for a moment, unable to move at all.
Kyra, herself, laid there, shocked at what had just happened. She couldn't even find a word to speak, and as Colin turned to help her up, still with a cold expression on his face, she remained still. He held under her shoulders and pulled her along the ground for a few paces until collapsing himself, dangerously close to suffocating simply due to his rapid breathing.
He fell to his knees, crying silently, holding his hands to his face to cover his eyes, trying to return his breathing to normal. Suddenly, and rather violently, Kyra wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him down into her chest to calm him down. She had run tears down her cheeks, devastated at what she'd just allowed to have happened.
"I…I can't," Colin stammered through his tight throat, "I just…"
Kyra held him closer to try and stop him from talking, "It's okay."
Steadily, Colin was able to regain his breath, and Kyra could only feel the sudden jolts of his head as he cried. Eventually, however, even that had stopped, and he remained against her chest, unable to move due to the arms which were still wrapped around his head.
"I just killed-" he began, but Kyra was quick to interrupt him.
"You protected me," she corrected, "That's all that happened."
Colin didn't reply, though was taken aback by Kyra's hand, which gently stroked his head as she repeated, slowly, "You protected me."
He hadn't even realized where he was until it finally occurred to him once he'd calmed down. Near instantly, he pulled away, nervously, turning around to look back at Kyra, who had never looked as saddened as she did now. She closed her eyes, as though to try and hide herself, embarrassed.
"I'm sure Vylira told you plenty about how I never cry," she muttered, quietly.
Colin wiped his sleeve against his face before grinning, "I didn't say anything to her, but it kind of came as a shock to me when I heard it."
Kyra let forth with a laugh, tearing away her sad demeanor, leaving the two there, staring at one another. They weren't sure who'd initiated it, but their hands had met on the ground, just before Colin reached around Kyra's shoulders to pick her up into a hug.
She held him as well, her face buried in his shoulder, "You let me be weak."
Colin smiled lightly, holding her tighter, realizing just how immense such a thing was for such a strong person to say, before he answered her, "You make me want to be strong."
Without turning around, he continued, "Obviously it's working."
Kyra laughed again, now through more tears. In that moment, she was falling in love with this mortal, yet she was too wrapped up in a torrent of happiness and exasperation to be terrified by the idea. She just wanted him to stay close like this, for longer than either of them could afford at this moment.