Equestria Was Merely a Setback!

Chapters

Level 1: Okay, You Want Me To What!?
Level 2: Go Fetch
Rest Experience
Level 3: Tomes of Fire and Ice
Levels 4-5: Slippery Slope and Black Ice
Level 6: The Two Pillars of Silvermoon
Level 7: The Gale Wolf and The Cunning Eagle
Level 8: The Prince Returns to Silvermoon City
Rest Experience 2: Foalish Phrasing
Level 9-10: Mile High Club
Level 11: Watching Those Hips
Level 12: Nananana, Nananana, Say Hellooooo
Rest Experience 3: Heart-stone
Levels 13-14: V with a Vendetta
Level 15: Rise of the Brotherhood
Level 16: You Are Free To Break The Chains of Fate That Bind You
Level 17: Hell In a Prison
Level 18: At The Bottom Of The Deadmines
Rest Experience 4: Food and Thought
Level 19: Queens, and Kings, and Nathrezim Oh My
Level 20: Miss Communication
Level 21: You're Gonna Go Far Kid
Side Chapter 1: The Withering Flame
Level 22: In The Future Everything Is Chrom..ie
Meta Filler: Ending Themes and Character Info
Rest Experience 5: Brewtiful Celebration!
Level 23: The Hangover Part: Trixie, Starring Alcohol and Poisoning
Level 24: Dreaming of You
Level 25: The Hunt for Redemption
Level 26: A Messa Things
Level 27: Victim of Your Own Creation
Rest Experience 6: Mid-Siege Break
Levels 28-29: The Crusade Strikes Back
Level 30: There Is More Than One Side To Battle
Meta Filler 2: One Year Anniversary, Plot, Pictures, and Music
Level 31: It Only Hurts Just Once
Level 32: Why Don't You Take Over?
Rest Experience 7: Campers Aren't Welcome
Side Chapter 2: Mouar Than Meets the Eye
Level 33: Remote Controlled Zombie
Level 34-35: Walk it Off
Level 36: Web of Histories
Level 36.25: Stemming the Scarlet Tide
Level 36.5: Of Alliances and Empires
Level 36.75: Shooing the Hypotenuse
Level 37: Pulling You Down With Me
Meta 3: Picture This!
Level 38: The Undead Scourge

Level 1: Okay, You Want Me To What!?

It was not the first time Trixie woke up flat on the ground, limbs sprawled and her head in splitting pain. The pain was so great, in fact, that it took her a whole minute to even manage to open her eyes. As soon as the bright light of the sun hit them, she groaned and shut them again. She felt completely unwell on a level she had not felt since…

Since…

Trixie shook her head from side to side while trying to lift herself to her feet. As her eyes opened again, her efforts to rise were met by her flopping over onto the ground beside where she woke up. Her body felt…different. Lighter, and her weight was distributed differently.

She brought the end of one limb to touch her forehead, as if by massaging her throbbing temple she could ease the pain. Still suffering, a weak groan escaped her lips, “Ohhhh…”

As she made that simple utterance, the feeling against her forehead changed...it was being touched, but something about what was touching it felt wrong. Trixie focused her light sensitive eyes on whatever was touching her head.

It was colored funnily. Like someone had drained a peachy color and made it quite pale. The shape was quite funny too, with a few skinny blocks coming off of a square-ish shaped part.

Trixie moved her head away from it, only to find that this thing flopped onto her smooth forehead again.

“What is this?”

That was enough for Trixie to try and look at it more thoroughly…and all it took was a look as to what the thing was attached to for her mind to figure out what was touching her.

Attached to the thing was what Trixie could recall was called an arm, which was connected to what was known as a shoulder, which in turn was attached to her. She had a hand. Somehow that felt wrong. Why would having a hand feel so weird?

A glance to her other side revealed a matching hand. So she had two of them, and the one that had been touching her head was not some abnormality. Still, it felt…funny.

“Hands? I don’t remember having those…”

The pain still lingering in Trixie’s head gave her ample explanation as to why maybe she was feeling a bit off. Now that she was awake, it was time to find out where she had slept for the night and determine what to do from there.

A look at the ground she was on top of revealed a soft green field of grass. Various patches of grass were unkempt and rising above others, one of which was nearby where she had woken up. Curious, Trixie ran a hand through the grass there to find that a rock was inside the grass.

Trixie groaned. She hit her head on that rock, hadn’t she?

Reaching one of her hands back, Trixie found that the back of her head indeed had a bruise. A bruise so large, in fact, that she gasped at the touch of her own soft fingers. A strand of hair caught in her fingers as she brought them across her scalp and away from the pain, granting Trixie sight of the silver sliver before it drifted away in the day’s gentle breeze.

The ground would reveal little else to her, so it was time to get up! Trixie heaved upward and tried to bring herself onto all four limbs. She instead flopped forward and had to catch herself with her hands, ending up in a position kneeling down on the ground. That granted her a better enough view though, now being able to see that she was next to a round building with a symbol that had the appearance of a stylized fleur-de-lis with red as its primary color, and a golden outline surrounding it. Around the building was an assortment of trees, some green and some a golden orange. Those that were green came from intricate, swirled bases that were a part of the building while the others rose from the ground.

The building itself was a similar shade to Trixie’s skin, and it held an architecture than only felt partly familiar…like she had seen something like it before, but not actually seen anything exactly like it in her life.

The unfamiliarity brought some uneasiness to Trixie’s stomach, “Where in Tartarus am I? And just how hard did I hit my head?” she brought her hand over to her stomach at the queasy feeling, “There better not have been anything in my food last night…”

In fact, what had she eaten last night? Ah, whatever, Trixie was sure she could figure it out as soon as her head cleared a bit.

Trixie lowered her hand from her stomach to one of her lower limbs, finding that it was a leg. That was normal, even if the leg itself felt weird. A quick check revealed her last limb to be the same, and Trixie sighed. Okay, whatever was wrong with her, she at least had all of the parts that would let her get up and move.

While checking herself, Trixie found that her body was covered by a soft purple robe. Wearing purple felt right, so she paid it little mind as she slowly pulled herself to her feet. Just when she reached her feet, Trixie yelped as something crashed into the back of her legs and knocked her forward. Her head plunged into one of the green trees nearby and the young woman flailed as she tried fighting her way out of the tree's leaves.

“Ahhh!”

Once successful in freeing herself, Trixie turned to find herself being approached by what appeared to be a...feline being. It had a coat of reddish-orange, and it had fangs that poked far out of its mouth in a threatening manner. Yellow glowing eyes stared intently at her, and Trixie found herself backing right into that tree she had been fighting to escape. This little cat just tackled her, and it did not look friendly!

Trixie glanced around to see if there was anyone around. After all, she was right next to a building! People had to be around—

More cats. Dozens of more cats. Some trees as well, yes, but the field seemed filled with these felines.

Trixie gave the cat a nice smile and held a hand out to try and touch it. It was worth a shot, right?

"Good kitty...soft kitty...little ball of fur..." Trixie weakly sang as she slowly approached it. It growled at her and snapped towards her outstretched hand, which made Trixie realize something: she could do magic! All she had to do was...

Oh great, now she could not even remember how to do magic! What was the world coming to?

A growl reminded her that the world was coming to her being mauled by a cat. Yes, that.

The cat sniffed towards her and let out another growl before turning around and leaving, walking towards the others gathered on the plains. At that moment the war cry of a man rung out, and someone in full armor rushed and impaled one of the farther cats with their sword. The others did not appear all that pleased by this and turned to assault the armored man, but Trixie was already running along the edge of the building away from the whole mess the moment he appeared. It would be nice and noble to help him murder the cats for no reason, since their numbers were sure to kill him, but Trixie valued her own life more. And did not feel comfortable hurting poor animals for no explained reason.

On the way around the building Trixie came across what appeared to be target dummies, like what you might beat up in training, and surely enough there was a line of robed figures hurling magic towards these dummies. Trixie watched in awe for a moment as fire and ice hurled forward and crashed into the straw figures, but a stray shot of a poor magic user flew right by her head. At that point Trixie decided watching from behind the targets was not the smartest decision of her life. The concentrating mages did not seem to even notice the person in their line of fire, and they continued to attack their targets despite everything.

With the warrior attacking the poor cats, and these mages attacking their targets, Trixie could not help but feel as if this was some training ground for soldiers. She did not recognize just what these beings were, but she did not give them a second glance before continuing on her way. She wanted to figure out what this all was as soon as possible, idiot mages be damned.

After continuing around the circle that was the building for a few more moments, Trixie was met with a wide open hole where one would think a door should be. The entrance was simply the lack of a door, and Trixie found herself a little stunned by this very open building. How did they keep the weather from getting in?

Standing in front of the entrance of the building and looking like they could answer some questions was another woman who was pointing some other robed figures towards a different field. Someone with directions most certainly could be helpful!

Trixie approached the woman, but before addressing her she observed her for a moment. The woman had a soft face with green, literally glowing eyes, long, pointed ears that sloped up and slightly towards the back of the head, and blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. Her body was bipedal, much like Trixie found herself, and formed a surprising hourglass shape with a narrow waist, large hips, and two large bumps on the chest that were almost as big as the chest they hung off of in length. What were those things, Trixie wondered? A glance down made her realize that she too possessed them.

Having looked the woman over, Trixie cleared her throat to get her attention, “Hello, my name is…”

Oh no. Trixie's eyes widened as the woman turned towards her...she was blanking on her own name! She bit her lip for a moment and groaned as she fought to remember who she was. The woman Trixie stood across from rose an eyebrow, curious about the sudden stop, but she was not kept waiting long as a wave of information hit Trixie: she was, indeed, named Trixie. Trixie Lulamoon, the Great and Powerful!

The Great and Powerful what though? She remembered doing magic before, so was it magician? Whatever, she would just leave that out until she could remember more.

“Trixie! Trixie Lulamoon,” she finished awkwardly.

The woman smiled, ignoring Trixie's awkwardness as if it were something she was used to, “Oh, you must be another student who has come here to prepare against the Burning Legion. Welcome to Sunstrider Isle, Ms. Lulamoon. I am Magistrix Erona, your guide for the near future.”

Absolutely none of that registered with Trixie, who gave the other woman a weird look.

“Burning Legion? Sunstrider Isle?”

What was this 'Magistrix" even saying? What were those things and why was Trixie supposed to know what those meant?

"Yes..." the Magistrix nodded slowly, her voice trailing off as she grimaced. The poor woman was wondering what brain damage this poor soul was ailed with to not know what those words meant to their people.

Realizing that she was seeming a bit unintelligent, Trixie chuckled nervously. She hated not knowing what she was doing, “Okay, so, hypothetically, would it be possible for you to talk to me like I have no idea what is going on, what I am doing, or where I am? Just, you know, to be sure we are clear on those details?”

Her hypothetical that was completely the case made Erona facepalm. She had encountered many...mentally challenged trainees before, but never quite to this degree. Even that idiot warrior who had rushed off to slay the cubs by the back of the building knew those basics. Magistrix Erona knew already this was going to be difficult.

“Silvermoon kids these days and their Bloodthistle and drinking…”

Trixie could hear with her large ears that the woman had muttered something, but she had not caught just what was said, “What?”

Erona gave Trixie a fake smile,“Nothing! Let us begin with the basics. What do you know?”

Trixie nodded, glad that she could finally address her problems, “I have hands, and that feels abnormal. You have them too, so an explanation would be nice ” a similar and more important question surfaced for Trixie, “Also, what are you?”

The urge to have her jaw drop was killing Erona inside. Was this student just playing with her or were they just that unintelligent? Perhaps they were just suffering from a bit too much partying in the city?

“I am a Blood Elf, much like yourself. We are a race known for its magical prowess and our refined ways. To think that your hangover is so great that you cannot remember that tells me that perhaps we should limit the drinking of ones as young as yourself.”

Trixie crossed her arms over her chest defensively, “I didn’t drink anything!” a moment passed before Trixie realized she had no idea if she had or not, “Or, at least I don’t think so. I might have. But what I do in the privacy of my wagon is my own business!”

That caught Erona's attention, “Wagon? So you are a traveler?”

“I…” Trixie slowly grew a smirk as she continued, “Yes. Yes I am.”

Yes, she was a traveler! A traveling magician, the Great and Powerful Trixie! She would go from place to place and perform magic. Sure, she could not remember her spells at that moment, but she would with time. Of that she was sure. This temporary setback with her memory would go away and things would go back to normal...whatever that was.

Trixie bowed to the Magistrix, adopting a grandiose voice, “A traveling magician, in fact. And I have come here to improve my skills so I can become the greatest performer in Equestria!”

Erona rose her brow again, now being the one feeling slightly foolish, “Equestria? Is that some realm of Kalimdor? These are the Eastern Kingdoms, there is no Equestria here.”

Not able to know if that was indeed the case but also not willing to appear like any more of a fool, Trixie nodded and stood back up with a smile to mask her inner nervousness, “Yes, that is it. Completely! Trixie knows what she is talking about now.”

That seemed to put Erona partially at ease, “Oh good then. Perhaps we can discuss more details later then. For now, I would like to have your aid in a most pressing matter.”

To make herself appear at least competent and make up for previous...bumbling, Trixie gestured to herself while boasting proudly, “I will amaze you with my talents. What shall I do? Pull a rabbit out of a hat? Summon a bouquet of flowers?”

Internally, Trixie was saying something along the lines of "Pleasedon'tcallmybluffpleasedon'tcallmybluffpleasedon'tcallmybluff!" as a result of how she could not currently back up her claims. Luckily for her, Erona could not read minds and paid it all no mind. The Magistrix smiled to Trixie in a way that made the confused "Blood Elf" nervous.

“I am more interested in your capability of murder, my young student. The sooner you begin your magic education, Trixie, the better for us all. There is little room for error, so listen closely.”

Now it was Trixie's turn to fight the urge of dropping one's jaw, “M-murder? Like people murder?”

Just the idea made Trixie's stomach feel ill. Here they were, having this nice conversation, and now death was on the table! The nonchalant manner made Trixie wonder just how common a subject this was for the woman, since she did not seem nearly as put off by it as anyone should!

Seeing that Trixie was alarmed, Erona backpedaled verbally, “No, no, no. Let me explain. The Burning Crystals - the green floating objects to the west of the Sunspire here - have long been used to power the isle's experimentations.”

Trixie glanced around the landscape and found that in the nearby distance there were the so called Burning Crystals. Floating above the ground and surrounded by what Trixie presumed to be floating eels, the crystals were above circular platforms that had a similar architecture to the nearby building, which she then realized was not the only one of its kind. Multiple buildings surrounded the nearby area, which made Trixie curious as to what they all were for. Inspection of them could happen later though, for now she was observing the crystals.

The largest one in view, shaped like an elongated diamond, was quite large even at a few hundred feet away. Inside of it were two glowing shapes of orange and yellow that held the shape of eyes, and Trixie found herself slightly unnerved by how it seemed to be staring back at her.

Her observation complete, Erona continued for her new student of sorts, “The mana wyrms you see around them were their guardians, but the Scourge invasion of Quel'Thalas has driven them errant from our lack of magical control over them.”

Trixie glanced back at the floating eels, some of which were closer and gave a better view. They had a blue-ish body with a thin, weblike membrane around forming straight back across their long and slim bodies on both top and bottom. They too had glowing eyes, and the way they waved back and forth as they hovered above the ground had a mesmerizing effect on Trixie, who found herself smiling at them.

This said, Trixie once again found herself confused by the jargon used.

“What is this Scourge you speak of?”

This time Erona seemed more than a little miffed at Trixie's questioning, “The race of undead monstrosities that drove us from our homeland and demolished our species. I am a magic teacher, not a history professor, so just listen. There is little choice but to thin the mana wyrms numbers for reclamation of this Isle. This is a great way to test out your magical powers and let me gauge where you are at in terms of skill level. Do this, then return to me.”

Trixie gulped. So this was the murder mentioned previously. She was supposed to just go and kill creatures as a task?

“Are there no beast tamers who could help these poor creatures? I don’t think I’ve ever killed something, and I would hate to break a good streak now!” Trixie laughed nervously, trying to find an alternate option to killing.

Erona shook her head sadly, “No. I mean, we receive a flux of warriors, criminals for hire, magicians, and other such talented people here, but if I am to be honest we do not receive too many huntards with the skill to tame such creatures. Not nearly enough to make a true impact...”

Trixie tilted her head at the odd word she heard, “Huntards?”

Erona chuckled as she realized she used the wrong word, “Excuse me, Hunters. Ranged specialists who tame creatures. Their profession is less popular amongst our race these days because of the cowardice associated with their tactics.”

“So, to begin my training, you want me to murder animals that are tainted by something we can possibly help with but just do not have the manpower for?” Erona nodded to Trixie's question, which led to the new student proclaiming, “I’m going to capture them.”

The Magistrix could tell this would be a difficult apprentice already, “That would prove most difficult, and what would you do with them? All of our animal holding pens are full with Dragonhawks.”

Trixie placed her hands on her hips smarmily, tilting her head back and lifting her nose up as she brought forth yet another boast, this one being one she intended to fulfill however she could, “You want to help their species by thinning the amount of corrupted ones there are. I’ll do just that. Let the Great and Powerful Trixie amaze you!”

“I can sense your overall magic, though not your skill. This being said, you are barely above average in terms of new recruits and their power. Why do you think you are so amazing?” Erona scoffed, hoping to bring some humility to the younger woman.

Ready to begin her task, Trixie strutted past Erona and towards the nearby plains where a gathering of mana wyrms was, “Pardon me, teacher, but you will not be a neigh-sayer much longer. Just watch as I do the impossible.”

Their conversation over, Trixie set out to reclaim Sunstrider Isle in her own way. This being said, she quickly looked around to see if anyone else was using magic. A nearby feline cub growled in pain, bringing Trixie's attention to what caused the pain. A man in similar robes to Trixie's own, though his had a crimson shade with gold outlines like the building from before, was forming a ball of what appeared to be ice and fire magic in his hand before blasting it out towards the wild animal. This next shot did not hit the cub like the last, but it did give Trixie the time to study him. He began saying an incantation along the lines of "Anara'nel belore", and suddenly a burst of fire erupted before the cub. The grass lit and singed the charging animal, at which point the man formed another ball of ice and fire in his hands while chanting, "Dune'adah!"

The cub fell down, and Trixie cast her eyes away. She knew what she had to do in order to have her magic now though. To herself, Trixie whispered exactly what he said while focusing some of her energy into her palm.

"Dune'adah!" her fierce whisper went. A flicker of flame and a tinge of frost formed in her hand, making Trixie grin. By channeling more of her energy, she could cast an attack like that blonde man in the red robes, but for now she would only use that as a last resort.

Trixie approached the closest wrym and attempted to see if they were nicer than the dreadful cubs nearby, “Here wyrmy-wyrmy.”

One of the nearby wyrms could seemingly tell that she was speaking to it, which Trixie realized likely stemmed from its previous affiliation with Elves like her. A perfect test subject for her to try and tame! Trixie regretted not having any treats or the like, but she was sure she could think of something. Trixie smiled as it wavered back and forth, slowly hovering over to her with its smooth yet scaly body.

It stopped about a foot in front of her, at which point Trixie brought a hand out to touch it. She felt like she had always wanted a pet, and could not remember actually ever getting one. The wyrm accepted her touch, not making any threatening movement as she began to stroke it. Trixie could not understand just why these seemingly docile creatures had to die, but she did find herself smiling as it moved to rub against her hand more with its body, “That’s a good wrym. Would you like to join me and be my pet?”

The animal's ability to respond was already at a low level before an arrow crashed through its upper body, right behind its glowing blue eyes. It wavered back and forth as Trixie gasped and jumped back, with a second arrow crashing right into the small fin on one side, through the body, and skewering the other fin as well. The wyrm's floating ceased and it twirled in the air before exploding in a brief flash. Trixie cast her eyes away for the duration of the flash, only to return her gaze to it and find that there was but a glowing orb remaining of the wyrm.

Trixie turned around to see a green armored woman with auburn hair looking cooly at her, the woman's green eyes matching her outfit and not displaying any emotion as she placed another arrow on her bow. Behind her, a frightened mana wyrm hovered around, a chain around its neck that led to a belt on the woman.

Angry that her new friend was dead now because of this reckless person, Trixie shook a fist at them and let them know her feelings on the matter, “What the heck do you think you are doing?!”

The woman shrugged, slowly lifting her bow and aiming at another wyrm about ten feet from Trixie, “Putting down the animals like I was tasked with doing.”

Seeing what was about to happen, Trixie jumped in front of the other creature. This stupid person was ruining her great plan! Not only that, they were being a total jerk about it too! “Oh no you don’t. I’m not going to just kill these adorable creatures because you’re bloodthirsty!”

The other woman appeared only slightly irritated by Trixie getting in the way, still aiming at the creature peacefully floating behind Trixie's shoulder, “I am a Hunter. I kill animals as I see fit, and use them similarly however I wish. Apparently you do not get how this works.”

Seeing the Hunter pull their bow string back, Trixie gulped as she realized this game of chicken might not go in her favor, “Apparently not, but that does not mean the Great and Powerful Trixie is just going to permit mass slaughter!”

Narrowing their eyes momentarily, the woman glared at Trixie as their bowstring remained ready to fire. After remaining like that for ten dreadful seconds, they lowered it and sighed.

“So be it.”

Trixie opened her mouth to thank them for their understanding, only for the shoulder part of her purple robe to be clipped by an arrow that was shot at a pace so fast Trixie knew that the woman had to be crazy. Who just shot like that when people were standing right by!?

Trixie turned around to see the poor wyrm behind her fall and die similar to the first, bringing a tear to her eye as she realized she had failed two of these poor creatures.

“You just shot at me!” Trixie shrieked at the other woman, the feeling of wet blood now trickling down her skin inside the robe making her all the more angry. What happens if that shot had been a little to the side? It could have killed her!

Once again, the hunter shrugged, though this time it was with a slight smirk, “You were in the way.”

Trixie decided then that she was not very fond of these Huntards either. And since she now knew how to use her magic again, or at least a single spell of it, why not give it some field practice?

As the Hunter began to leave, Trixie brought a hand to her shoulder, arcing it over her back so that it looked like she was covering her now exposed shoulder and clutching the spot where she was bleeding. In reality, she was beginning to channel her energy into her palm to let off a blast of fire and ice like that other mage had, but only someone standing behind her could see it. She whispered the incantation and held the attack there.

Not wanting them to go just yet, Trixie decided to announce her new brilliant plan, “Hey, Huntard! Know what? Let’s handle this disagreement about methods and ethics the good old fashioned way. Up for a duel, Huntard?”

The so called Huntard turned to face Trixie, the shackled wyrm shivering as its seeming owner coolly responded, “I have more experience than you. I would kill you without breaking a sweat.”

Trixie scoffed, fully confident in how striking someone with magic would cause them to give up in an instant, “We’ll see about that! Are you too afraid?”

The stoic Hunter nodded, "Very well. We begin in three...two...one..."

As they counted they had begun to draw their bowstring back with another arrow, aiming right at Trixie. Trixie had gathered up all of her strength for this one attack, and intended to knock this arrogant woman out so she could do no more harm. The moment things began, Trixie whipped her sneak attack at her foe and the ice-fire attack sailed through the air right to its intended target. Luckily they had been standing still, so Trixie did not have trouble aiming it in a straight line at her foe.

The Hunter fired off a quick shot that actually caught Trixie in the arm in a stunning display of accuracy, before quickly yanking the chain on their belt and pulling the mana wyrm they had shackled to shield them from Trixie's attack. Trixie gasped both in pain and surprise as all of her energy just was wasted on one of the beings she was trying to help. It did not die, but it fell weakly onto the ground as its owner prepared another arrow to fire.

Trixie tried moving, but felt sluggish after being hit by the first arrow and so the second one nicked her leg. Trixie could feel some more energy welling inside of her, and began to summon forth another attack before the hunter closed their gap somewhat and pointed the arrow right at Trixie's head. Realizing she had been bested, Trixie bowed her head and raised her hands up in surrender to her enemy who was now only five feet away.

It took all of her pride to admit it, but Trixie knew she was not good enough to succeed in this encounter, "You win."

That did not appear good enough for the Hunter, who drew their string back and prepared to fire again.

“Dead in the first area of one’s journey. How pathetic,” the Hunter snorted. Trixie realized quickly that her foe was taking this as a duel to the death, not just a competitive and sporting one, and quickly opened her mouth to try and stop herself from being killed over such a trivial matter.

Before either could do as they intended, a red blur moved in-between them. Trixie found herself staring at the back of the red robed man from before, who now stood right in front of the Hunter and was now acting as a shield for Trixie.

The man held a smile in his voice as he intervened, “Hold it there, friend. What happens to be the problem here?”

“We had a duel. She lost. So you get lost unless you care to have a new hole,” the Hunter growled.

The magic using man gestured back to Trixie, who snorted at his gesture, “There is no need to finish her then. You have proven whatever point you were trying to make.”

Trixie used this time to gather herself and to look at her bleeding arm, where the arrow had caught her and broken through. She hid a groan of pain, not wanting to appear even weaker than she was.

The Hunter looked around the red robed mage to see Trixie, at which point she huffed, “If I was not so repulsed by this man's face I would stay to finish you.”

That being said, the Hunter turned her back again and made to leave, dragging the unconscious wyrm along with her. The threat gone, the man turned around to face Trixie. Before he could say anything though, Trixie decided to see who she needed to thank for her life.

Trixie crouched down as she winced in pain, “Who are you? I owe you one...”

The fellow magic user offered her a hand, a warm smile on his face as he introduced himself, “My name is Kael’Thas, a fellow student and mage, and it was no problem at all. Welcome to Sunstrider Isle, my lady.”

Trixie might be confused, she might be bleeding, and she might be pissed off about how her first ten minutes in this new place had gone...but seeing a friendly smile made her feel at least a little better about it all.

If there was a next time though, she was not going to lose to that stupid Huntard. Lesson learned.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the beginning of Trixie's journey into the world of Azeroth, and I hope that I can hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Level 2: Go Fetch

A/N: Special thanks to The Blessed One, ChaoticLightning, Whiteeyes, Whinifree, ultronquake, Europa, Cade YYZ, Reykan, MerlosTheMad, refferee, Mad Maudlin, Drgnwolf, nioniosbbb, God of Physics, and Ketvirtas for commenting last chapter, as well as everyone who liked/favorited this story which got it on the front page! Thanks for your support, I hope you continue enjoying, and I hope to continue to hear from you in the comments!

Trixie groaned as her body began to ache in a way she was not familiar with. A burning sensation all over. Was she exhausted in addition to wounded? Still, with some difficulty she managed to hide it and observe the man before her.

Red robes with golden outlines...a look at his own clothes made Trixie realize that her own looked so much better. His were in tatters when observed up close, and they barely looked like they could hold together another day of actual use.

In comparison to his shoddy clothes, his face was much easier on the eyes. His eyes were similar to the Magistrix’s in that they blazed a bright green, as if magic was pouring right from them. His face was pointed and skinny, but not in a bad way, as it gave him a very refined appearance that Trixie could appreciate. Even his eyebrows were amusing, being so long that they left his face entirely.

Plain and simple, Trixie could not see what the Huntard was talking about in relation to his face being unappealing. Perhaps they simply did not like men?

The handsome Elf before Trixie held a hand out towards her as he introduced himself, “My name is Kael’Thas, a fellow student and mage. Welcome to Sunstrider Isle, my lady. I apologize if some of our population is…” as Trixie moved to take his hand to stand up, he turned towards the direction the Huntard went and frowned at the now faraway figure of the cruel woman, “Well, whatever one would call that. Grouchy. Mean spirited. An as—”

His turning and the shifted attention caused him not to politely help her up as he originally meant to, so Trixie cleared her throat to draw his attention back to her, “Ahem.”

“Oh, my apologies,” Kael turned back to her and granted her his hand again, “Here, let me help you.”

Annoyed at this point, Trixie decided to stand up on her own, “I don’t need your help…”

As she stood, Trixie growled in pain as her leg wound flared up in pain. Yes, that. She had forgotten about that in favor of the arrow sticking in her. She fell backwards onto her bum as she tried getting up from her kneeling position, causing the man to crack a smile.

“Apparently you do,” this time when he offered his hand, Trixie begrudgingly took it. Once upright, Kael reached behind him and removed a vial of some red liquid from a backpack he had, “Now, here, hold this.”

Trixie took the vial with some confusion. It looked like blood. She rose an eyebrow at the sight of it, “What is this for? Is this some kind of…drink?”

Kael reached for the arrow stuck in Trixie and grasped it firmly, “You could say that. Now, when I say drink, drink it.”

Not happy about where this was going, Trixie tried pulling back from him only for the Elf to grab her arm as well and hold her still, “Wait, what are you—”

He ripped the arrow out of her in one quick movement, saying at the same exact moment, “Drink!”

“Oww! Damnit, you just—”

Kael glaring at her made Trixie realize she did not do as he said, so she moved to change that.

Trixie lifted the vial to her mouth only to find that it had a cork in the top. She removed it quickly with her thumb, at which point she guzzled the liquid down as fast as she could. This could be poison for all she knew, but the fact that he saved her life made her comfortable in drinking whatever he gave her. Pain wracked her arm as the arrow was removed, and she could feel blood begin to run down her robe’s sleeve…

“I said drink,” he commented as he rolled Trixie’s sleeve up without her permission. Trixie was about to comment on what he was doing until she felt the blood stop running down her arm. When he finished rolling up the sleeve, Trixie gasped at the sight: no wound whatsoever remained. The pain was still there, but no arrow hole.

Kael smirked at his accomplishment, “There, is that better?”

“No…” Trixie pouted at first about the pain, only to realize then that she was being ungrateful, “Okay, yes. Thank you. But it hurts…”

Kael let go of her and bowed slightly, “I apologize, but I do not possess healing magic and I assume you do not either, so this is our only alternative if you do not want to spend a week in the infirmary.”

Trixie could see what he meant, since she knew basically nothing at this point and would have to learn more, “Point taken…”

It was then that Kael realized that he still did not know the name of this new acquaintance, so he prodded her for that information gently, “So, ahem, what’s your name, milady? I do not remember seeing you around here.”

Trixie decided to act as grandiose as she could, bringing a hand to her chest and speaking in a haughty voice, “I am the great and powerful Trixie Lulamoon, and I…”

She paused as she remembered something.

“I have no idea how I got here,” she finished in a more confused tone.

Her response was first met with a smirk, and then after a moment that smirk transformed into a full grin. Then Kael tilted his head back and began to laugh at her, causing Trixie to grunt as he tried to reign in his burst of amusement.

Once calm, Kael cleared his throat and continued on as if he had not just been laughing so heartily, “Oh do not worry. I would reckon that many who come here do not know much of went on before their arrival here. This is where journeys begin, not continue.”

Trixie glared at him. Something felt off about this guy…

“You have amnesia too, don’t you,” Trixie flatly responded on a hunch.

Caught, Kael brought a hand to the back of his head nervously, “Yes, that would be the case…Beyond my name and some things here and there, I don’t really have a clue what is going on either.”

That interested Trixie. Perhaps with a similarly…confused person, she could seek out answers as to what was going on. First she had to finish what she was doing though, which made her question what this strange fellow was doing too, “So you are just lounging here and saving damsels in distress, or do you have some goal?”

Her question seemed to sap some of the warmness out of him, and Kael looked down to the side as he thought back to his own time in the Isle, “I tried getting some work, but people keep shying away from me. From what they say I guess I must look like someone infamous.”

That would explain the Huntard’s comment, Trixie thought, which made her feel kind of sorry for him. Somehow the idea of being an outcast resonated with her. Perhaps she had experience with it that she simply did not recall?

As Trixie began to pity him, the man put on a fake smile and returned the question, “And what about you? Do you have any goals in particular?”

Trixie tried to act as if she was smart and knew what was going on again, “Well, besides growing my magical skill and reaching whatever potential I have there, I don’t know…”

An idea struck her. He was an amnesiac outcast, and she was an amnesiac foreigner. Perhaps they could lend one another a hand, at least until they had things more settled and their memories restored?

“Perhaps we can help eachother. Since neither of us have a goal or idea, how about we see where things take us?”

Kael brought his hand to his chin as he thought about the possibility. He would hate to impose on someone else because of his current unfriendly relations with others around the Isle, but now that someone was willing to talk to him he would hate to pass up the opportunity, “I could be amenable to that,” he felt the need to warn his new companion though about the dark cloud that would follow him, “Though, if you plan to work with those around here, my presence may prove…scandalous.”

Trixie crossed her arms over her chest and snootily lifted her nose, trying to act tough when in fact she was still a bit scared about how close she had come to dying, “You saved my life. If they have an objection to you tagging along and helping me, then they can deal with not having my assistance and skills.”

Kael bowed to her, grateful that for once someone was not judging him for things he was unaware of, “You are most kind, Lady Trixie.”

Surprised by the flattery, Trixie did her best not to blush as she changed the topic, “So, you do magic too? I was watching you before.”

“Yes, though I have yet to branch out from the basics, but I do have a general understanding of at least those currently.”

Trixie turned around to face the area she had been approaching prior to the Huntard’s interruption. The area opened up to a nice plains away from the buildings, and despite the occasion tree swaying or giant green floating crystal it seemed quite calm.

As Trixie turned though, she felt a bounce in her chest area. She had kind of felt it while moving before, but the speed at which she turned made it all the more pronounced. The two orbs that swelled from her chest were the culprit, and Trixie found herself genuinely confused by them or what they were. She rose a hand to cup one of them as she pondered this weird feeling of having extraneous weight on her chest, “You know, this doesn’t exactly feel...right…”

Kael struggled to respond as he too took an interest in what she was now talking about. Unlike Trixie however, Kael had a basic understanding of what made for a humanoid woman’s chest, and Trixie was no different than other Elven women in that regard. In fact, a quick observation made Kael all the more confused about why she was unsure about her breasts, since they were of a size that would be hard for most to ignore, “Your robes…fit you nicely? I don’t see what the matter could be…”

Trixie grimaced as she thought about how she apparently was going to have to deal with this hindrance, “I guess they do,” she moved her hands up to the neck of her robe so that she could reach inside, “But what is filling them up. What are these?”

Even with Trixie’s back to him, Kael turned his head away and coughed nervously, “A very unusual question, one with a level of indecency I do not feel comfortable answering.”

Trixie reached her hand inside the robe and ran it over the soft skin located there. Her face went red at the touch, and she quickly realized that she was indeed a mammal. She withdrew the hand quickly and forced it to her side, her whole pale face red as she vowed never to embarrass herself like that again in front of someone else, “I...apologize for my question. I am…out of it.”

Now the one eager to change the subject, Kael approached Trixie’s side and spoke back to their previous conversation, “Anyways, we did not agree on any terms of our partnership. As this is a business related matter, I suggest we come up with some basic rules to form its foundation.”

Still embarrassed, Trixie only nodded to him. Business sounded good. Business didn’t make her tingle…or, at least in the same way.

Kael reached into his bag and removed a pair of dice, “I propose an even split of what we find and gather in our journeys. When something is singular and of great importance, we shall roll an unmodified pair of dice. To help assure their fairness, each of us shall use one of our own. This will account for if any others join us, as a coin flip would be limited to only two while a dice has more outcomes than we likely will have people with us.”

The idea of fairly distributing anything they come across sounded good to Trixie, but there was the chance that someone could be more fortunate than the other, /“And if one starts winning everything through random chance? I would say that we should decide whether or not one participant needs it or not. If they do not need it, they do not roll.”

“And if none shall need it?”

Trixie smirked, glad to think out this basic rule now instead of having to deal with any drama later, “Then both of us rolls, and then things proceed as normal,” with the materialistic aspect of their partnership decided, that left the more important part of leadership, “That concerns what we gain. Now, how shall we decide who leads and when?”

Kael smiled back at her, similarly pleased, “We agree on our goals before we set out, and then take turns deciding the specifics on whatever journey we embark on after our time learning here. Take things day by day.”

“Very well. I think that shall do for now.”

“I foresee a long and beautiful relationship.”

“The rules shall be amended as needed.”

“Of course.”

The rules quickly came into question when the two came into a situation where neither one of them wanted something.

“Did a boot just fall out of that wyrm?”

A mana wyrm that had been wounded by another young mage had assaulted Trixie and Kael after the other mage ran away like a coward the first time it hissed at them. With a blast of the only spell Trixie knew, named Frostfire she learned from Kael, she managed to keep it from biting her head off in its maddened assault.

When it exploded in a brilliant light and fell to the ground as an orb, a boot also fell out of the light. This left both Trixie and Kael confused, though neither wanted to consider how or why the mana wyrm had a boot inside of it.

“You have it,” Trixie disgustedly responded to Kael, who was beginning to come up with an idea for the unkempt boot.

Kael picked up the disgusting boot to Trixie’s displeasure, and placed it in his bad as well with some of his own disgust, “We may think it is repulsive and junk, but who knows what the merchants around here will think of it? Perhaps we could sell it. I have a bag to carry it, so it will remain there for now.”

Trixie stuck her tongue out at the sight of it, “So gross. Just remember to split the…profit.”

Another mana wyrm, this one not at all aggressive, floated by Trixie’s face which reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing.

She turned to her partner, who seemed to have the same thought on his mind as he said the question before she could, “You are doing the magic training, correct?”

Trixie had seen him fighting a wyrm before her confrontation with the Hunter, which meant that he too was likely doing the Magistrix’s bidding too.

Trixie nodded yes as she thought about how fortunate it was to have a partner when confronting such deadly matters, “Yes, I am. Are you tasked with ridding the Isle with the wyrms as well?”

Kael smiled nervously as if he was hiding something, “It seems to be an entrance exam of sorts.”

“How brutish,” Trixie commented, not pleased that there was a institutionalized practice of killing wild animals. She felt bad about even killing the one that just attacked her in a blind rage, but knew that she did not have a choice with how close it had been to taking a bite out of her.

The mana wyrm floating around her made Trixie sigh, as she realized she had to deal with it in some way…

A lightbulb lit in her head. Even if she could not tame them, she could get around killing them. The Magistrix wanted them gone, and Trixie would do just that.

Trixie whipped out another magic attack to hit this wyrm at point blank range. She made sure to make it even stronger than her last hit, which had only finished off an already half-dead animal.

The wyrm was blasted out of the air and fell to the ground, though not in the orb form they took upon death. It was wounded heavily, and it flopped around briefly before taking flight once again. Instead of confronting Trixie, the nearly dead animal took flight and began to weakly fly away from the area.

Kael was intrigued by her approach, since he definitely remembered Magistrix Erona saying to kill them when he overheard her talking earlier, “Are you not going to finish it off?”

Trixie scoffed at the idea, “Of course not. I am not going to harm something so needlessly. They said to reduce the population of mana wyrms, and so I am, just in a different way. I’ll scare them off for now so they stop being a nuisance, and later I will find a way to cure them. I do not feel comfortable slaying such beautiful beings.”

Seeing her alternate method and goal, Kael sighed as he thought about how to complete it, “This will make things more difficult…”

Similar to when Trixie first watched him, Kael summoned forth a burst of some flames at the ground beneath some mana wyrms. The sudden fire frightened the animals, and they fled a few feet from it. Once moved back this far, Kael shot another series of flames to chase them off and away.

Trixie could see that the rapid use of magic was straining him, so she spoke up with some thought, “I was not going to prevent you from doing as you would. If you were going to kill them, go ahead. You need not handicap yourself.”

That only made him laugh. He was being offered kindness from someone, and that was not something he was going to squander by trampling her ethics, “What kind of partner would I be if I breached my partner’s code of conduct?”

Trixie smiled as Kael continued to set the plains aflame. This really was going to be quite the partnership should it last.

The two continued this until a whole area of the plains was set free from mana wyrms, which continued to float away until they were no longer in sight. They could return, or they could bring problems to some other place, but Trixie was just happy they had rid the area of them with minimal blood shed.

Trixie patted her partner on the shoulder at the sight of the fleeing wyrms, “Thank you for the aid. I think we have scared enough away.”

The touch made Kael relax somewhat, his whole body aching immensely from the relocation effort due to all the magic he used and the toll that in turn took on him, “My fire was more than enough for the job. I am only glad to have been of service to you. You’re the first person who is actually bothering to talk to me much at all.”

Seeing as how Kael had been quite the stand up fellow so far, Trixie found it hard to believe that others were shunning him, “How rude of them,” the idea of proving herself and gaining fame through her actions sounded appealing though in her mind, so Trixie decided it was time to return to her quest giver. After all, Kael could possibly earn favor back if he tried, “Let us report back to the Magistrix about our success.”

Trixie turned around to approach the relatively nearby Magistrix who was handling some even newer recruits, but Kael did not follow her. She stopped to look back at him in confusion, but he once again spoke first.

“You go ahead. I will wait here.”

Trixie was not about to let her partner be shy even if everyone else hated him, so she grabbed his arm with a firm but not hard grip, “Why? Are you nervous about speaking with her? Come on.”

The man continued to look away from her, “The truth is, I never actually got the mission like you did…” he flashed her a nervous look, “Since so many people were ignoring me or outright telling me to go away, I feared approaching the teacher who was setting people on missions of destruction lest I become the new subject of her ire. I’ve just been copying what others have been doing the past day or so. That’s why I know a little more, but have not progressed any farther.”

Trixie pulled his arm in so that it was intertwined with her own as she began to tug him towards her teacher, “Oh don’t be silly. How do you expect to earn their trust if you do not try and do something for them? Come with me, and I will say you helped me in my mission. They seem fine with me, so my introducing you should prove beneficial to your reputation.”

Her persistence and optimism got through to him slightly, and he allowed her to pull him even though he remained somewhat pessimistic about the whole matter, “I acquiesce to your plan.”

“Of course you do. I am brilliant after all.”

Once the other students had left Erona, Trixie approached her with Kael in tow. She let go of him once they were there, causing Kael to straighten himself out after being pulled there by the tall but still shorter than him Trixie.

Trixie beamed at her teacher whiled gesturing to the area she and Kael had cleared out, “Hello Magistrix. I believe that my partner Kael and I have succeeded in ridding Sunstrider Isle of your pesky wyrms.”

Trixie’s words seemed lost upon the Magistrix beyond a certain point, as the Magistrix turned to face Kael with a gaping jaw.

“Kael? As in the same name as our Prince, Prince Kael’Thas Sunstrider? You have been born into an unfortunate life, my friend, to be named after that man. At least you were not named after the Outlands conflict began, for that would be even more unfortunate.”

Kael opened his mouth as a light bulb lit in his mind, “Actually, I—”

Seeing that Kael was about to say something that could possibly incriminate himself, Trixie gripped him by the arm again and spoke up faster than he could for once.

“May I speak with you?”

Kael nodded, and Trixie apologized to Erona for the interruption. With his permission Trixie led him about ten meters away and began to speak to him in a whisper.

“Okay, new plan. Don’t go around saying your name. I’m sorry I did.”

Kael tilted his head, confused by the complete 180 on her approach to his reputation, “What? Why not? Being a prince sounds quite familiar, and perhaps she knows something about my history. What if I am this Prince Kael’Thas Sunstrider? That would mean this whole Isle is named after me—”

Trixie held a finger to her lips to signal that he should be quiet, “She said being named Kael was unfortunate. What do you want to wager that this Kael’Thas, possibly your own self, was disgraced at this so called Outlands conflict that seems to be going on right now?”

“I…” Kael’s shoulders dropped as he realized that if he was not just a lookalike who held the name of the prince, he might actually be this ill favored man which would be the root of his current problems. The others likely were shunning him because of his similar appearance, and him saying his name would only make their suspicions rise further, “I concede to your point. I do wish to look into this matter in the future, even if it is by research rather than inquisition.”

Trixie could understand the need to know more given her own situation, but she did not want her new friend to get in any trouble, “Of course, but hush for now.”

With their new rule established, Trixie and Kael returned to the Magistrix who gave them both a curious look. Trixie laughed nervously for a moment before breaking the silence, “My partner here was named after the prince, and grew up to resemble his namesake. Quite the fortunate turn of events.”

Erona pointed towards a couple of apprentices who were steering their way around Kael completely, shooting him venomous glares on their way to go do whatever tasks they had been granted, “Or not. It seems to be causing you social problems.”

This did nothing to help Kael’s self-confidence, though Trixie rubbed his arm supportively as Erona spoke again, “Anyways, you have successfully completed your first task; for that, you are to be congratulated. Such success gives me faith that you will turn out better than those young blood elves who fail to heed the lessons of their masters. Continued success will be rewarded - not only with knowledge, but also with tangible rewards as well.”

Erona took out a pouch and handed it to Trixie, who graciously accepted it and took a look inside. What seemed to be round copper coins formed the contents of the bag, which Trixie began to count as Erona continued speaking. Money made the effort all the more enriching to Trixie.

“Your work here, however, is not finished. There is much more to learn, my young friend...” Erona paused as Trixie continued counting, only half listening compared to the more enraptured Kael, “Your effort has made something clear that, honestly, I wish were not true. The unchecked power of the Burning Crystals has maligned a much larger swath of the isle's natural balance than I thought. We must now take on more unfortunate measures to reclaim control.”

Trixie finished counting and carefully removed half of the coins in the bag, which she then stuffed inside Kael’s bag before realizing she did not have a place to put the pouch she still had in her hand. Erona turned around to point towards where Trixie had woken up, at which point Trixie had a brilliant idea. With Erona’s attention elsewhere, Trixie opened up the top of her robe and placed the coin pouch in the only compartment she could think of: the strap-like thing that she had felt inside her robe that was covering her chest. Kael laughed as he noticed her do this, but Erona did not seem to notice or care as she continued speaking.

“The nearby lynxes have succumbed to the influence of the crystals, and they must be put down. Bring me their collars, Trixie, as I may yet be able to fashion a magical restraint to turn some back from being uncontrolled.”

Trixie realized that the cats she ran into before must be the lynxes spoken of, which made Trixie all the more willing to take action against them. They were mean kitties.

Still, the order to murder and maim the cats had not been given so Trixie questioned it, “You only need their collars?”

Erona turned back to face them with a smile, “Yes, their collars should be enough for me to finish a cure for the creatures and their malady. Your compassion for the wyrms made me think about alternate ways of handling these problems. Here I will see if rehabilitation is actually possible, after we create my cure.”

This was a mission Trixie could be wholly behind, and so she grabbed Kael by his tattered sleeve to drag him towards where she woke up, “Come Kael, we have mean cats to beat up.”

They gave the Magistrix their goodbyes, and left to go beat up those mean cats Trixie so loathed. Once behind the building, the two were met with the sight of a whole pack of the beings spread out across the hill that formed the back area of the building. Kael was curious what was over the hill, but Trixie was more focused on the cats who scared her off earlier.

“Since we just need the collars, we should have an easy time leaving them alive,” she noted as she began to wonder which one she would need to knock out first.

Kael, however, was more interested in the dead body that lay face-down as a pair of lynxes began tearing into its armored form, “Poor Warrior…”

Trixie recognized the armor as being that of the person who ran to attack the cats earlier. Likely the person in line ahead of them for this particular quest. Erona had not really stressed that it could be dangerous, but then again she seemed to have a detached view of how one was supposed to learn magic other than learn as you go or die.

Trixie felt bad, but at the same time the man who was dead brought it entirely on himself, “He attacked a mob of cats by himself like an idiot.”

Seeing the closest lynx, Trixie began to charge up an attack while lamenting she did not know more. Perhaps she would be able to learn more after she was done cleansing the vermin of the isle like a glorified janitor or exterminator.

The cat noticed the light forming in Trixie’s hand, and as if it had seen it before the beast began to charge at her. The speed at which the animal moved shocked Trixie, who had not finished the attack by the time it was ready to swipe at her.

Luckily, it did not hit her.

Trixie gasped as she realized Kael had intercepted the attack, his arms wrestling with the cat that had pounced up at her. The possible prince growled as he tossed the animal down, the cat rolling over to prepare another pounce just as a blast of magic struck the back of its head. It weakly stumbled over, still conscious, only for Trixie to quickly knock it out with a kick to the head.

The kick actually hurt Trixie as much as it did the cat, and she grunted in pain as she realized her toes were in immense pain. The cat stopped moving though, and that allowed her to see that it had a collar on. Likely an artifact of its time underneath Blood Elf rule, it had little use for it at this particular moment while Trixie had a great one, so she removed the collar with some joy.

Seeing these events drew the interest of other lynxes though, and just as Trixie began to say “One down” there was already three more running at them.

Once again Kael placed himself in the way, with one beast biting into his leg and another jumping up to bite his shoulder. The third collided directly with his gut with its hard head, causing him to gasp and stop the spell he had been channeling momentarily.

Trixie felt fear grip her at the sight of him in such a dire position, but knew that she couldn’t cast her magic fast enough to do much good…

The shimmering metal of the fallen warrior’s sword caught her eye. Trixie rushed over to grab the nearby weapon, and as soon as her delicate hands gripped the large blade she turned to swing it at the closest lynx attacking Kael. The blade sliced down its body and made it lose its grip on Kael, who that very moment finished channeling his power to let out a burst of magic that knocked the other two back.

The one still standing growled at them both, and it moved to bite Trixie. She tried swinging at it again, but her blade passed above its body because of her lack of practice with it. The animal fell down either dead or unconscious though when a shard of ice pierced its back. Trixie dropped the blade onto the ground and sighed, glad that there were no other lynxes currently interested in her blood.

Kael, to his credit, was fighting off the pain of his wounds quite well even as his robe continued to fall into disarray. He removed another healing potion from his bag and drank it, a shudder going through his body as the odd tasting medicine took effect. His wounds disappeared to Trixie’s delight, as it meant he was fine despite taking all of the damage in that fight.

Thankful but prideful, Trixie crossed her arms over her chest, “I can protect myself, you know.”

Kael chuckled at how she had trouble just saying thank you, “I know, but I daresay I am more durable than you, my lady.”

Trixie snorted at him, though as her eyes began to trace across him she could see some serious signs of muscle on the otherwise lean body of her partner. The rips in his robe were allowing her to actually see how ripped he was, not that she would say any such thing, “I couldn’t tell underneath your dress.”

He seemed less interested in the falsehood of her being unable to see his tough body, and more interested in the insult itself, “It’s not a dress, it’s a robe!”

Trixie stuck her tongue out, “You secretly want to be a woman, don’t you?”

Kael was the one crossing his arms this time, only semi-defensive because he knew she meant no harm, “I am very comfortable in being a man, thank you very much. It’s not like I have much else at the moment other than being a Blood Elf male who looks like a prince.”

“I bet our people thought they had a princess at first, since that fool looks so much like you, wretch,” another voice said, causing Trixie and Kael to turn towards it.

A man in a yellow robe who was holding an odd staff of sorts stood staring at them with a wicked smirk. Trixie didn’t know who they were or what they were doing, but she did not appreciate their comment whatsoever.

Trixie jabbed a finger in their direction, her voice angry and defensive, “Hey, you stay out of this.”

As if the lynxes in the area agreed, one jumped at the yellow robed man and began attacking him. No longer able to dialogue with them, the man turned to do battle with the savage beast while Trixie and Kael each wondered how much they wanted to help him.

After seeing him get chomped a few times, Trixie blasted the lynx and knocked it out. Wounded, the man limped away to go tend to his wounds while Trixie muttered, “Serves them right. The nerve of some people…”

Kael decided to be the one to address her hypocrisy, “You were making fun of me too.”

Trixie placed a hand on her chest and let out an odd noise, “Hmmph. Yes, but you are my partner. I have a right that no-one else does.”

Hypocritically heartwarming as it was, Kael laughed at her possessiveness over mocking him, “So can I poke fun at how you obviously have no idea about any of what is going on?”

“I am a magical apprentice who is learning so I can go on to defeat the dreadful Scourge and amaze everyone with my supernatural powers!” Trixie responded with a bit of uncertainty, even though she tried to sound like she knew what she was talking about.

“I can assure you they are quite natural to Elves such as us.”

“Oh shut up. Can you teach me that fire spell?”

Kael shrugged, not really knowing too much other than the fiery magic came naturally to him, “I am not sure I can. I barely can do it myself. Perhaps we should see about getting you to a mage instructor.”

Trixie nodded in understanding as she began to retrieve more collars from the now unresponsive lynxes, “Like the Magistrix?”

“No, she is just in charge of things overall. You should see an actual trainer,” Kael clarified, his face turning to one of exasperation as he realized he destroyed most of the collar on one of the lynxes with his magic. Finding collars wouldn’t be a 1 to 1 ratio of defeated lynxes it seemed.

Once they pulled together all of the collars in the area and began to pack them away, Trixie decided that she was about done with the foul tempered cats. She needed a rest from all the fighting anyways, since her head was pounding and hurting like never before from what she believed to be her exertion.

“I think that should be enough collars. We really ought to have asked how many they needed.”

Before placing the last collar away in Kael’s bag, Trixie got a wicked idea. Instead of reaching into his bag, she placed it around Kael’s neck. He was too surprised to stop her, and Trixie could not help but laugh at the sight of the man wearing a pet collar.

“Hah, the prince of the Blood Elves is into bondage!”

Kael rolled his eyes, but did not remove it because it seemed to be amusing Trixie so greatly. Still, he would not lose the verbal war, “You put it on me, my lady. Does that not mean you are the one interested in that particular perversion?”

“…shut up.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

Trixie only grumbled as they went to turn in their findings to their teacher, who seemed pleased to see them back. As she greeted them Trixie removed the collars from Kael’s bag and handed them over.

“Magistrix, here are your collars.”

Erona was pleased to see the collars in relatively good condition, but soon found herself confused when she noticed one was in a weird place.

“Why is he wearing one of them?”

Trixie shrugged, trying to stifle a giggle that arose in her, “I thought it looked good on him.”

Not even wanting to get into that subject any further, the Magistrix cleared her throat as she took the collars, including the one Kael removed from his own neck, “Know that it gives me no pleasure to ask you to destroy these beasts. While in times past we have lived in relative harmony with woodland creatures, these are different times. The first order of business for all sin'dorei is survival; make sure you remember that.”

Assuming that sin'dorei meant Elf, Trixie decided to just go with it, “Of course,” Trixie replied, pleased that perhaps Erona was not completely psychopathic in her ways of cleaning up the isle, “By the way, there is a dead Warrior in the back.”

“I was wondering why it was taking him so long. Did you take his things?”

Trixie was confused by the question, but also realized that perhaps they should have brought him, “No, I did not. Do you intend to give them to his family?”

Erona laughed, “His family? I don’t even know anything about him other than a lack of intelligence and a tragic case of death. I meant did you loot his corpse. It is common practice in Azeroth to take from the dead, since they are not using their equipment anymore.”

Her response unsettled Trixie, who could understand the reasoning but also felt disgusted by the idea of looting someone’s corpse…

Erona used the silence as a time to continue speaking to the two, with Kael too nervous to speak up at all, “Now, the tower and surrounding areas should now be relatively secure, though only for the time being. You have done well in providing us with a buffer of security, but we will need to reassert control over the entire isle if we are to survive here in the long run. This will involve tackling much greater threats than errant mana wyrms and lynxes.”

The Magistrix took from the ground a small bag and handed it over to Trixie who realized she could wear it on her hip by attaching it to the cloth belt she had on, “Take this, Trixie. You will no doubt make good use of it for the tasks to come.”

Trixie thanked the Magistrix when a yawn escaped her lips. Wow, she realized she really was tired. She stretched out after putting the bag in place and another yawn let its way out of her, “Can we take a break first? All this magic is making my body ache.”

Erona gestured to the building they had been around so long, yet had yet to enter, “Oh, of course. You may rest inside if you feel the need. Come back to me when you wish to continue your training.”

Trixie and Kael nodded, each of them moving to approach the building. Once again speaking only to Trixie, Kael decided to mention something he found out before meeting her.

“The mage trainer should be inside. I heard some of the others talking about her.”

“Let us see about learning some new tricks!”

“I can’t tell if that was a bad pun or if you were being sincere.”

“…shut up. Anyways, while we’re resting I want to hear some stories about what is going on.”

Author's Note

Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be more focused on world building for the less WoW knowledgeable. Anyways, I hope that I can hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Rest Experience

A/N: Special thanks to Magestikus, GrezterGreen, God of Physics, ChaoticLightning, Quixotic Enigma, Reykan, Mad Maudlin, refferee, Whinifree, Schroedingers_Katze, nioniosbbbb, SilentMech, Ketvirtas, and Tinee-The_TinCan for commenting last chapter, as well as everyone who liked/favorited this story which got it on the front page! Thanks for your support, I hope you continue enjoying, and I hope to continue to hear from you in the comments!

Trixie had taken it upon herself to be the one asking around for the mage trainer inside the building while Kael trailed behind silently. Since he was getting odd looks from some still, the brunt of conversations were left to Trixie to handle.

Sadly, despite asking around for what felt like forever, Trixie could not track down someone who knew where the mage trainer was. In fact, everyone seemed unhelpful for those who might have known and the ones who were clueless spent no effort in helping them beyond that point. Not even a point in the right direction.

This changed when a yawning man who was laying down on a pillow in the corner of the circular and one room building made her think that perhaps a more sleepy person might not be decidedly unhelpful because of her company.

“Excuse me, do you know where the magic trainer is for new mages?”

The man on the ground rubbed his eyes drowsily, another yawn escaping his lips as he worked on staying awake and responding to the question posed, “I apologize, but the mage trainer is sick today. Would you mind coming back tomorrow when they are better?”

Trixie lit up in excitement. Even if it meant that the teacher was not there, it meant they would be in the future and she just wasn’t being ignored by whoever it was. Trixie gave a small bow in thanks for the information, “Of course,” she looked back to Kael and beckoned him to come closer, “Where would we be sleeping for the night, however?”

The man on the ground shrugged, “Some sleep here, but there is an inn across the plains and through an area overrun by the Wretched. The inn has more privacy and is nicer in my opinion. A wagon should be running there soon, if you would like to go.”

Kael shrugged too, not caring about the location they slept, while Trixie smiled to the helpful Elf, “I don’t see why not. My whole body is aching as it is. Thank you for the help, and we will see you tomorrow.”

Trixie did not wait for a response before turning on her heel and grabbing Kael by his tattered sleeve, desperate to leave behind the people being so rude to her one and only friend.

Kael, apathetic to the disgust being shown to him, just let her drag him away while giving a parting wave to the man who helped them out.

The man returned the wave while continuing to yawn, “Be safe you two!” he paused as they left the open building with its lack of a door, only to then yell after them as he thought of something else, “Or don’t! We’re kind of going extinct as it is…”

Trixie didn’t get it, but Kael started laughing as he was pulled towards the wagon.

Night fell quickly over the landscape, and in the time Trixie was inside it went from looking like mid-afternoon to the dead of night. She wanted to get a better look around while she was riding, see what the sleepy man had spoken about, but the lack of light prevented her from really telling anything. That, and she was finding it difficult to pay attention to the surroundings as her eyes were drawn to Kael’s hands. He was using a small bit of fire magic to grant some light, and Trixie smiled as she watched it flicker back and forth in his palm.

The ride was quite short, only taking a couple minutes, so Trixie found herself being led to the so called inn before she could even take in anything else about the area. The wagon driver had someone take his horses away and park the vehicle while he brought Kael and Trixie inside their home for the night.

On the way in, Trixie noticed two things however: the lack of a door again which made her question the heating of the structure, and also the blue drapes that swayed in the night air and formed the only “door”-like thing of the building. As Trixie passed them, she pulled on Kael’s sleeve to get his attention.

“Ooh, blue drapes. I like blue.”

Kael stopped and smiled, all the while questioning the structure’s odd opening which was shaped like a straightened and rotated S before opening into the main chamber of the building, “It is my favorite color.”

Trixie rose a long silver eyebrow at him, genuinely curious about what he said, “It is? I would have guessed red was.”

Kael sighed, a part of him telling him that this was not the first time someone had made that mistake, “The color one wears does not mean it is their favorite color.”

Now inside, the two took a look around the structure. The rectangle shaped building was dim and had an intricate architecture lining its walls, with a periwinkle purple table sitting atop a darker purple rug right by the entrance. Given the seats placed around it, Kael assumed it to be a dining table while Trixie did not give its use any thought, since her mind was on the color of it.

Trixie pointed first to the table, making sure not to be gesturing to its golden accents and to be pointing at its main color, “Well, mine is purple, in case you ever buy me anything. I look good in it,” she then lowered her finger to point at the floor’s rug, which she was by no means fond of, “Lavender purple. Not violet purple or whatever this is.”

Kael tried to come up with a description for it, but found himself grasping at straws while secretly wishing he could take a seat in one of the L shaped chairs despite their low seats and short legs. His legs were killing him from all the standing he was doing that day, though to be honest the ached ever since he awoke in the Isle without any memory as to how he got there, “Grape purple?”

Trixie let the issue drop as a woman with brown hair, a white shirt that revealed her full cleavage, and a red skirt approached them from the back of the building, revealing to the two a staircase in the back they had not noticed before.

The woman bowed to the two as she introduced herself, “Welcome to Falconwing Square Inn. I am Delaniel, the innkeeper here. May I prepare a meal for you, or ready a room?”

“A meal would be nice, but we are here for the night,” Trixie responded, realizing that her skinny stomach was actually rumbling. She had been aching so much across the rest of her body that it did not occur to her before that she was hungry, for she merely thought she was suffering of a hurt stomach after a day of physical activity.

The innkeeper nodded before quickly snapping her fingers as she remembered something, “Actually, I am sorry, but we only have one room and bed available tonight. Will that be okay for you and your…” she looked over the disheveled Kael’Thas with interest, “partner?”

Trixie scoffed as she pulled out her coin bag and removed a few coins, causing Kael to reach into his bag and do the same, “Of course, we only needed one room to begin with.”

“E’ast?” (One bed) the woman replied with some shock. Not that she did not have regulars come by her inn with a bedfellow, but she was still surprised by the boldness demonstrated.

Trixie, for her part, was simply being cheap. She had never intended to spend twice as much money when one room could house both her and her companion. The idea that it was odd or carried connotations with it completely went over her head as she paid the woman up front with some copper pieces, Kael doing the same.

Actually able to understand what the innkeeper said, Kael gave her a sheepish smile while responding, “A’ther.” (Thank you)

Delaniel chuckled as she realized that this must be a new couple, given that he seemed embarrassed while his companion was more open about it, “I don’t see that many young couples these days. Well, take a seat and relax yourselves. I will ready a meal and your room. Are there any dishes in particular you would like?”

Trixie nodded readily as she moved to sit down at the table, Kael following suit, “Bread and hay would be nice. Thank you again.”

Delaniel continued to laugh, though it was more nervous this time around, “Hay is for horses.”

Trixie blinked. Why had she asked for hay? Huh…

To not embarrass herself further, Trixie laughed at herself and what she said, trying to play it off as something other than a mistake, “A joke, haha,” she cleared her throat before repeating herself, “Bread then, please. And whatever plants grow nearby please.”

Kael gave her a look of interest, as he could tell that she had not in fact been joking. He kept his curiosity to himself though as the innkeeper turned to him for his own order.

Kael cleared his throat and pointed to an assortment of food and drink lined on a bar on the far side of the inn’s first floor, “I too would like some bread, though that fruit pie you have seems delectable as well. May I have some of that and the Moonberry juice you have?”

Trixie looked over to it and whiffed it with her nose, “May I have some of that blueberry pie too?”

“It’s cherry,” Delaniel responded, beginning to get the feeling that this poor girl wasn’t all there. Good thing she had a guy to look after her, Delaniel thought.

After a moment, Trixie mumbled, “…I don’t like cherry,” her stomach continued to rumble as she thought about food. Certain preferences were coming back to her, like her interest in bread and butter, “Is there blueberry? Or apple. Apple sounds delicious, but blueberry is my favorite,” unable to really recall why that was, Trixie had a vague feeling it had to do with whoever her mom was for some reason, “I think I get it from my mother.”

Eager to please, Delaniel smiled to Trixie before going into the back, “I will see what I have.”

Once their host left them, Trixie found herself instantly drawn to the bottle and glasses already on the table. The shape of the bottle and the glasses, as well as a unique smell, gave Trixie a good idea about what was in front of them, “Ooh, is this alcohol?”

“Yes, it seems to be,” Kael responded, not wanting to actually drink it and instead waiting for the juice he ordered. Trixie, on the other hand, grabbed the wine bottle and opened it up with a look of glee on her face.

“I never got to drink fine wine before!” she paused to bring a finger to her chin, “Or, at least I don’t think it’s something I’ve done.”

“Be careful not to ingest too much. I prefer coherent company,” Kael deadpanned, all the while looking at Trixie’s legs. Not for any perverted reason, as her body was fully clothed by her purple robes, but because of how Trixie had sat down. Delaniel had not been able to see it because of the back of the tall chair getting in the way, but Trixie was sitting like an animal might…legs spread apart but bent so that she was sitting, and her hands rested in-between them when they were not in use.

Trixie held a finger up to him to shush him while she chugged down a full glass of the whine, stopping to wipe her lips before cheekily sticking her tongue out at her partner, “Sorry, what was that? I was busy enjoying myself.”

Despite her odd idiosyncrasies, Kael decided to let the whole matter go. No reason to really care why his friend was so odd, he only needed to accept her for who she was just like she was doing for him. Unlike so many of the other Elves they had met…

Kael waved a hand to dismiss the matter, “Never mind. I am just glad the day is over.”

Seeing that Kael was not going to be drinking any, Trixie brought the bottle to her mouth instead and began to drink it straight from the source. She did not remember ever tasting something so great, though to be honest she had little to nothing to compare it to. Still, it felt awesome, and so she was not going to stop anytime soon.

Kael watched with both parts amusement and confusion as Trixie chugged the bottle down until it was half-done, only to then turn to him and point at him using the wine bottle, “Okay, now that we have time, talk.”

“About what?” Kael responded with further confusion. It seemed like she wasn’t being general about it, but he did not know what the soon to be intoxicated woman wanted to discuss.

Trixie shrugged and gestured around to the entire surrounding area, “You know more than I do, so what’s going on here? I honestly need help, and I don’t know anyone I could trust more to explain the situation.”

“More than you means practically nothing given how little you know?” Kael said back as a question, not really sure what to say. He knew some things, but it wasn’t like his mind was a library he could draw from and tell her things from. On occasion since he woke up he would remember something, but in reality he was little better off than his companion.

“Are you accusing me of being stupid?” Trixie pouted as she finally put the bottle down so that she could accept the plate of bread being handed to her from Delaniel from behind.

Kael thanked their server as he shook his head, taking his own food and placing it down in front of himself on the table, “Stupid? No. Ignorant? Yes, I could be said to be accusing you of that.”

“Are you accusing me of that?” Trixie questioned further, only for Kael to shrug and laugh.

“I feel there is no way to win this conversation, so I will begin by saying that I remember just a little about our culture. Not enough really to be useful.”

“Blood Elf culture…” Trixie paused as she thought back to what the Magistrix said earlier, “Or was it Sin’dory?”

“Sin’dorei,” Kael corrected with a smile, currently amused by how she continued to sit in such an odd way. She really was a character, even if she was clueless at the moment. And about to be very drunk. She quickly began to tend to her food, which was a loaf of bread and a whole blueberry pie, and Kael found himself surprised by how fast she managed to cut the bread into slices in a systematic fashion only to then butter it with the butter provided along with her food. How quickly she did it made him think that perhaps she had eaten a lot of this cheap, common fare food before.

Trixie pointed the knife she was using to cut the bread at him briefly, “Yes, that. Tell me more about those.”

Delaniel gasped softly as she finished handing over the last pieces of their meal, “Oh my, is your companion suffering from some kind of memory loss, sir?”

To make Trixie feel less embarrassed, Kael spoke up about his own issues as well, “We both are, to be honest.”

“What a shame,” Delaniel sighed, only to then realize that Trixie had already finished half a loaf of bread. She ran into the back and grabbed another loaf of bread for her customer, “Here you go,” Trixie thanked her in-between bites, causing Kael to laugh at how thoroughly starved his friend must have been. Seeing that the two were enjoying themselves, and not particularly fond of the moaning coming from upstairs, Delaniel decided to stay with her present company, “Mind if I join you? Things are slow right now, and I don’t think there will be anyone else coming by tonight.”

Kael gestured to the vacant seat next to Trixie, “Go ahead.”

Delaniel took the seat, instantly noticing that the girl was sitting weirdly beside her before not caring just as quickly, “Thank you. I can share any information you two need. Where shall I begin?”

“How about…” Trixie laughed as she realized how utterly confused she was in general. Beside her, Kael was actually surprised that Trixie was not yet displaying actual signs of being any level of intoxicated, “Well, pretend I know nothing about Blood Elves and go from there. Just pretending of course.”

Delaniel nodded before clearing her voice and preparing to tell a story, “Of course. Now, long ago the exiled race known as the High Elves landed on the shores of Lordaeron. These are our ancestors, who had been changed by their usage of arcane magic and driven out by their Night Elf brethren for simply using magic like we do.”

“These Night Elves sound like jerks,” Trixie grunted. Prejudice over just basic magic? That was just mean. At least, it seemed that way with what little she knew.

“They tend to be even more stuck up than we are, and we are known for being the most stuck up member of our nation’s alliance,” Delaniel continued, “Now, we struck out to find a new home, and after many battles with the trolls, established the kingdom of Quel'Thalas. Using a vial of sacred water stolen from a Night Elven source known as the Well of Eternity, the High Elves created a fount of mystical power at a convergence of ley energies in Quel'Thalas. They named this fountain the Sunwell. Its potent arcane magic fed and strengthened the High Elves, and soon the wondrous city of Silvermoon was established.”

“What’s ley energy?” Trixie piped up again, trying to follow the best she could as she ate and listened. Kael actually gave his bread over to Trixie so that she could devour it, and he found himself amused at the sheer speed at which she managed to consume it all.

Less interested in Trixie’s oddities, Delaniel kept talking, “Think of it as magic energy that comes from the land itself that lines the ground and provides extreme power to those who harness it,” she cleared her throat to get back to telling the tale of their people, “Anyways, protected by a magical barrier, the High Elves enjoyed peace for roughly four thousand years, but that peace was not meant to last. The tribe of trolls known as the Amani gathered an immense army and assaulted the elven kingdom. Vastly outnumbered, the High Elves hastily struck an alliance with the human nation of Arathor. The elves taught a small number of humans how to wield magic. In exchange the humans aided the elves in destroying the trolls' power base forever.”

Once again, Trixie interrupted to ask a question about things she felt like she should know, “What’s a human? And what’s a troll?”

“A human is like a broader, less refined, Elf with nowhere near as much magical ability and a far greater tendency towards betrayal. Trolls are taller, but have poorer posture and are colored anything you might find in the rainbow. Except maybe purple. I have not seem a purple troll yet, but I have quite some time left to do so,” Delaniel answered, seemingly amused by the idea of seeing a purple Troll.

Trixie began to work on her pie, though she began to eat it directly off its tray instead of using a knife to cut it up. Kael laughed as Trixie pulled her face back and revealed that the lower half her face was blue. Beneath the pie on her face, Trixie blushed as she felt silly and like her manners were not quite suited for her present company. Was she supposed to eat differently?

In any case, Trixie did not want to be purple or blue even if she liked those colors. She felt bad for the Trolls, since seemingly being those colors was not normal here. They must face issues because of their different skin color, since something told Trixie that looking different meant being treated differently.

Trying not to laugh at her paying client, Delaniel did her best to continue her story without making fun of Trixie, “Over the following years we High Elves returned to our reclusive ways, but during the major conflict known as the Third War, the diabolical Prince Arthas Menethil, under influence of the nefarious Lich King and following the orders of the demonic Burning Legion, brought battle once again to our doorstep. “

By then Delaniel had calmed down, and her face was actually one of anger. Trixie felt chills go down her spine at the change, and a look over to Kael revealed that he had lost any amusement that had been in his face. He actually seemed angry, as if he had remembered something.

Keeping her own temper in check, Delaniel grunted before she went on, “Arthas required the power of the Sunwell to revive the necromancer Kel'Thuzad and raise him as a lich. He invaded Quel'Thalas and wiped out most of its population. In the end, even our King Anasterian Sunstrider lay dead.”

That made Trixie look back at Kael, who was clenching his fists underneath the table angrily. She brought a hand over to touch his hand to comfort him, the fist softening slightly at the touch.

If Kael’Thas was prince Kael’Thas Sunstrider, that would mean that…well…

“Additionally it became clear that the High Elves had become addicted to the Sunwell's arcane energies. Now that the source of their magic was gone, the few remaining High Elves quickly grew ill and apathetic.”

“Wait, I’m addicted to magic?” Trixie scoffed, not at all happy to learn this. Kael seemed surprised as well, though he kept quiet because of how angry he was about this news.

However, the addiction WOULD explain why her entire body ached at all times. Withdrawal and all.

Delaniel nodded, her response terse, “Yes.”

“Oh…” Trixie paused as she thought about what to do, quickly realizing she did not have a clue about how to confront this issue, “How do I fix that?”

Delaniel reached into a pocket and pulled out some shining gems, “I have some magic crystals that you can crush and replenish yourselves. Remember to keep yourself energized, as falling too far into addiction will cause a physical transformation into a being so wretched…” she laughed, “Well, that they are called Wretched.”

Trixie held her hands out for the crystals, desperate to stop the constant pain she was feeling, “Magic please.”

Delaniel snorted as she handed over the crystals to Trixie and Kael, who each crushed the soft gems in their hands. Once crushed, a glow emanated from the broken gems. This glow floated towards each of them, only to touch and enter their bodies without them doing anything else. Trixie instantly felt some of the pain leave her, while Kael barely felt different.

“There are also ways of siphoning it from other sources, but you will have to speak to a magic trainer about that,” Delaniel explained.

“Now, are you ready for the story again?” Trixie and Kael both nodded yes, so Delaniel continued her expositional onslaught that was sadly necessary for them to underdstand, “Prince Kael'thas, last of the royal line and who looks just like you handsome, returned from his studies in Dalaran to find Quel'Thalas in ruins. Thirsting for vengeance, he gathered the survivors, renamed our kind Blood Elves to honor our fallen, and took a group of the strongest fighters to join Lordaeron's campaign against the Scourge.”

Trixie nudged Kael with a smirk, comfortable in doing so in front of Delaniel since Delaniel seemed to think Kael was just a lookalike, “He sounds like a valiant and great man. Right?”

Delaniel shrugged, causing Trixie some concern since it wasn’t a straight up yes, “Perhaps. Due to human prejudice placing him and his people in a dangerous position, Kael'thas was forced to accept the assistance of a woman known as Lady Vashj and her reptilian Naga. When the humans and their leader Garithos discovered that the Blood Elves had been working with the Naga, Kael'thas and the others were imprisoned and condemned to death.”

That infuriated Trixie immensely. The idea of someone being needlessly cruel and judging someone else only based on their race was just wrong, and she felt like making her opinion known to this monstrous man.

Trixie slammed a fist down on the table while Kael began to look down at the floor blankly, “Where may I go yell at this terrible man Garithos and his similarly terrible followers?”

“A graveyard, though sadly he was not slain by one of our own…kind of,” Delaniel offered no explanation before continuing further, “Lady Vashj soon arrived to set them free, leading them through a portal and into the broken wastes of Outland. There, the elves met the one being capable of putting an end to their hunger: the renegade night elf-demon hybrid, Illidan Stormrage. Certain that the Blood Elves would die without Illidan's assistance, Kael'thas agreed to serve the man known by the Night Elves as ‘the Betrayer.’”

The sound of a not-mean Night Elf made Trixie smile. Perhaps they were not all as judgmental and cruel as previously thought, “This Illidan guy sounds like he’s not as mean as the other Night Elves. Even if he is a demon, which sounds like it’s a bad thing.”

Delaniel smiled as she stood up from the table to go grab something, “He is also quite handsome. With his glowing twin blades of Azzinoth, he makes for quite the fine specimen…” she removed a piece of paper from a drawer and sighed happily as she looked at it, “Because of his wings he can’t wear normal shirts, so very little is left to the imagination…”

Curious as to what she was looking at, Trixie soon had her question answered as Delaniel returned and handed Trixie a picture of this Illidan,“Here is a picture.”

The man had a piece of cloth covering his eyes, curled horns coming from his head, large and unhealthy looking wings sprouting from his back, and feet that were more like hooves. Those features together made Trixie a little uneasy, though she was curious about his hooves for some reason she could not explain. Outside of his more grisly looks though, he had a very muscular body and looked to be the size of many Kael’Thases.

Trixie looked over to her companion and looked inside the holes of his clothing again. He was quite fit, though he simply could not compare to the gigantic Night Elf-demon thing. Trixie continued to squeeze Kael’s hand in support, since she could sense that all of this was biting at him.

Looking back at the picture, Trixie noticed something: a glowing green blade being wielded by Illidan. It had a very appealing design, with curves along its bow shaped form, as well as the face of what Trixie believed was called a panda. Why she knew that and not some other useful piece of information she did not know, but she thought it funny that such a odd looking man had what was known as a fuzzy and cute animal on his weapon.

On a personal level though, Trixie wanted that blade. Or a replica. The glowing green sheen, the panda face, and the overall awesome curves and appearance of it made Trixie just want to possess it even if she knew not how to use a blade like it.

After swooning over the picture for a little while longer, Delaniel decided to bring her tale to a close, “Since then, a lone representative, Rommath, was sent back to Azeroth with a message of hope for the Blood Elves remaining in Quel'Thalas: that one day Kael'thas would return to lead his people to paradise. Rommath had made great progress in teaching the Blood Elves advanced techniques to manipulate arcane energies. With renewed purpose, we Blood Elves have rebuilt the city of Silvermoon, located close by, though it is powered by volatile magics. Emboldened by the promise of Kael'thas' return, the weary citizens of Quel'Thalas now are focusing on regaining our strength, even as we forge a new path into an uncertain future.”

She paused, once again giving Trixie a sense of concern, “But…”

“But?” Trixie questioned, not liking the sound of that.

“Well, there are rumors spreading around of a most disheartening matter,” the innkeeper lowered her voice to a whisper, “Rumors have long spread amongst our kind like fire through a forest, but the nature of these are quite…”

She looked around to make sure none of the inhabitants upstairs had come down before continuing, “You didn’t hear it from me, but there is word going around that our Prince is…allied with the Burning Legion.”

Trixie might be new to it all, but she had learned enough to know that that was a very bad thing. Looking over to Kael, she could see that his face had gone pale even as he continued to stare at the ground blankly.

Delaniel scowled at the mere thought of her leader turning on their people, “The Burning Legion were the ones who brought the Scourge into this world, I hear. The ones who guided Arthas. They are the cause for all that has happened to us. For our beloved prince, who has for so long fought to save our people, to turn and join them crushes one’s soul.”

Seeing the state of the Kael-lookalike and the now worried Trixie, Delaniel decided to call it quits there. She had said enough, and it was getting late. She stood up and took some of the finished plates from the table.

“Anyways, it is getting late. You will need your rest for your continued training, so I won’t bother you any more.”

Trixie nodded to her, a smile upon her face despite everything. At least she knew now these terrible things, “Thank you for everything.”

With Delaniel gone, Trixie stood up as well and tried to pull Kael up too.

“Come on. It’s okay.”

Once they found their room, which happened to not have a door either, Trixie sat Kael down on their singular bed and took the space beside him.

“Are you okay?”

The glow of his eyes helped hide it, but Trixie could see that the man was nearly crying, “I…”

Trixie continued to hold his hand to comfort him. The poor man had little to no memory, and yet he was now faced with a shattering discovery of possible crimes and misdeeds he had done, in addition to the general sadness of his race, “Do you really think you’re this Prince everyone is talking about?”

“It feels like I am…” Kael leaned back on the bed, losing his strength to stay up as he became more distraught at the possibility of being a terrible person, “My name…what little I can remember…her words seemed quite familiar.”

Trixie did not lay down too, but she did move back on the bed so that she could run a hand across his cheek to take away a tear. He was her only friend right now, and he was hurting bad, so she would try to help him however she could.

“Perhaps we should find you something to wear to conceal your face.”

Kael shot Trixie a look, only for her to quickly follow it up with a smile and explanation, “I do not care who you are or were so long as you continue to be the gentleman you have been this whole time, but others have their own prejudices. We will attract less attention if you cover your face.”

While overall forlorn because of what he learned that night, Kael felt a glimmer of happiness due to the support shown to him, “I suppose you are correct.”

Trixie stood up and placed her hands on her hips, tilting her head back for a haughty laugh, “Of course I am. I’m always right.”

“Even when you think you can challenge a sociopathic Hunter and win, and you lose?” Kael snarked from the bed, moving so that he could lay the correct way on it. It was not a terribly large bed, and while that might be fine for…certain activities where space was conserved, it did not make the fact that he would be sharing it with his clueless partner any easier.

Trixie, meanwhile, was approaching a mirror in the room she had just noticed. She was quite curious about what she looked like, so the fact the room came with one pleased her.

“Oh ha-ha. Very funny Kael.”

As Trixie began to look herself over, Kael let his sore body collapse fully on the bed, “Thank you…”

Trixie could not find it in herself to just say “You’re welcome”, since that would be an admission that she was being very kind and generous and deep down, actual praise made her uncomfortable. She was acting tough and proud based on her insecurity, so actually receiving real thanks made her feel extremely modest.

Instead of replying to him, Trixie finished taking in her looks. Not really caring that Kael could see, Trixie began to disrobe. She felt odd in the full clothing, and did not really get why everyone was being so modest. Yes, her experience with her chest before was embarrassing, but it was embarrassing because of her lack of knowledge and how she asked Kael about it, not because of the actual organs sitting atop her slim frame.

Underneath the robe she was still wearing an odd piece of cloth that bound around her chest, covering the spots Trixie did not intend to touch again, and another that looked like a very, very small pair of shorts. So small that it barely covered anything more than her crotch.

Ignoring these garments, Trixie was able to do what she intended to do: see what she looked like without the interference of her robes.

Her eyes were the thing that interested her the most. They were purple instead of green, which made Trixie curious as to why hers were different. She decided to look into it later, and decided to move down. Her face was quite normal, at least by what she had seen of Blood Elf faces, and she could not tell if she was pretty or not. She wanted to think she was though, so she decided to use herself as a benchmark for what would there on out count as “pretty”.

Moving further down were the things causing her back more pain, and Trixie was about done observing them for the day. Further down was a flat stomach that also held some firmness to it, though Trixie felt positively weak compared to the muscular man across the room. Ignoring this, Trixie’s eyes then fell to her hips, which she noticed were much wider than those she had witnessed on other females. In fact, they looked to be little larger, despite being wider overall. Trixie blushed at the thought of what this could do for her, and instantly blocked out all related thoughts.

Behind her, Kael too was observing her, taking in her body and trying to forget his sorrows as he realized that he was going to be sleeping next to this that night. He began to pray that she would put the robe back on, but Trixie decided to feel comfortable and left the robe where it was as she circled back to the bed. She blew out the blue colored candles on her way to the bed, and when she climbed on top Kael felt himself being pushed to one side.

Brushing up against him, Trixie felt the cloth of his torn clothes and decided that the feeling was bad as was the appearance of the thoroughly used clothing, “Perhaps we should also get you a new set of clothes tomorrow. Your current ones are in poor shape.”

Kael snorted at her small insult, expecting her to have at least said by then some kind of “you’re welcome”. Trixie could feel that it was expected of her, so she huffed as she asked, “What? Just because I’m haughty doesn’t mean I know how to tell someone they’re welcome that I’m so gracious.”

That was enough for him, and Kael found himself trying not to look at or touch Trixie as she made herself comfortable beneath the covers like he had already done without thinking.

“Now stay on your side of the bed. You are paying for half the room after all, so stay there,” Trixie commanded, only for Kael to snark.

“There really are not halves to this structure…”

“…fine. To conserve space you may wrap your arms around me and we will intertwine and overlap our legs.”

Kael was beginning to want to sleep on the floor. This woman had no sense of personal space at all, or at least not a conventional one.

“Goodnight, partner.”

Still…she was there for him, even after hearing that he possibly was an evil man who sold out their race. She seemed to want to be supportive of him and be close to him, so he would allow it.

“Fale'shorel, O'thal'ronae...” (Good night, my peaceful friend) He whispered back as he closed his eyes.

As she began to drift off into sleep Trixie smiled at his words, even if she could not understand them.

She would make him teach her the pretty words another day.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading, and I hope that I can hear your thoughts in the comments below! Comments are :heart: after all!

Level 3: Tomes of Fire and Ice

A/N: Special thanks to GrezterGreen, Ketvirtas, ultronquake, SilentMech, refferee, JakJak75, nioniosbbbb, Magestikus, ChaoticLightning, God Of Physics, and Quixotic Enigma for your comments last chapter, and I hope to hear from you all again this chapter as well as from those of you who may not have commented before! Please leave your thoughts below, and I hope you enjoy!

After a breakfast of buttered toast and juice, Kael and Trixie set back to the training ground on Sunstrider Isle. Fortunately for them the wagon was leaving just as they intended to head back, though neither of the two paid much attention to their surroundings as they took the short ride back.

Kael had been wracked with terrible dreams all night, and the time he had been awake he had been trying to ignore how there was a half naked woman beside him. Trixie, on the other hand, had trouble making herself comfortable as she slept because it didn’t feel right. Like everything was wrong and she couldn’t pin down exactly what was causing it.

The innkeeper had given Kael a small red mask to wear over his lower face, saying she had picked it up from a traveling human girl who had stayed in the Inn one night and left the next. While the Blood Elves were no fans of humans, she had a hard time saying no to a teenage girl who seemed to be homeless and in need of shelter. The girl seemed to have forgotten the red cloth, and since it had been years there was much doubt that it would ever be recovered.

Kael wore it over his face like a bandit might, trying to pass himself off as a traveling Rogue instead of just a mage. Mages were more prone to getting mugged by other travelers he had heard some of the others staying at the inn mention, so he tried to look menacing with it.

Trixie did not have the heart to tell him that he just looked silly, and that he was actually kind of cute trying to look mean. Not that she meant anything weird about that though. They were just friends after all…

Trixie shook her head to stop staring at him and his poofy, long eyebrows that partially defied gravity.

With Kael’s face covered halfway, the two managed to not be dismissed when they went looking for the magic trainer again. It appeared the Elves in the area either had short memories or simply were not paying enough attention to care the second time, but in either case Trixie found the woman in question within moments of asking around. She was located in the building right by where Magistrix Erona stood vigilantly, and wore a distinct red and black dress that revealed a vertical strip of her stomach and also of her cleavage in the most bizarre design Trixie had ever seen.

Despite the odd dress choice, Trixie ignored it as she introduced herself to the woman, “Hello, I am Trixie Lulamoon, a new student here, and this here is my partner. I was told you could help me with my magic, since my understanding right now is quite basic.”

Trixie’s words seemed to please the woman, who smiled brightly at the sight of the two robed Elves before her, “I am Julia Sunstriker. It is a pleasure to see two aspiring mages in this age of strife.”

“Are there less mages than before?” Trixie asked in an attempt to learn more about her culture.

“Of course! Before almost every High Elf could be considered a mage in one way or another, but now there are those who shirk their arcane studies to instead focus on wielding a sword or bow exclusively. Once upon a time those were hobbies and things of sport…”

Julia’s voice trailed off and she frowned at the thought of Elves being barbaric Warriors and Hunters. Such things were to be left to either the gifted, such as the deceased Ranger General of their kingdom, or to the dull witted in her opinion.

Snapping out of her thoughts, the teacher tried smiling again even if it appeared fake, “Anyways, I apologize. You came here to learn new magic, have you not?”

Trixie flashed a smile back while bringing a hand to her head nervously, “Yes, I am quite new to this. Any aid you can give would be appreciated.”

“Well, I know spells quite well, but you would have to speak to someone else if you want to gain actual knowledge on how it all works,” the woman turned around and began to scan through a bookshelf for something, “Though I do know that as you begin to grow in power, your connection to the arcane will develop, granting you access to new spells.”

After a brief amount of searching, she found what she was looking for and laughed as she pulled a standard blue book from the shelf with archaic symbols on its cover. This done, she handed the book back to Trixie, “Here you go. In there is a spell most know as Frost Nova. Included in that book are also the Frostbolt spell, Ice Lance, and other such cool spells,” turning around to face her, the teacher flashed Trixie a toothy grin, “That will be one gold piece.”

Trixie was astonished by the request for money. She had expected to get her training for free!

“You’re charging me?”

Julia laughed at the surprised look on Trixie, “What, you don’t expect me to give away a copy of Reicom’s Tome of Ice for free do you?”

Trixie frowned at the woman and placed her hands on her hips, the book still in her right hand, “Aren’t you just supposed to teach me what is in the book, not just sell it to me?”

“All beginners need a spellbook to refer to,” the teacher countered, her voice revealing her amusement at Trixie’s lack of understanding for how this all worked. Her next glance was over to Kael, who had been trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible, “I also have one that focuses on fire magic. Mr. Match’s guide to Fire, Torching, Heat, and Flame!”

She handed a book with a crimson cover and a fire symbol on it to the man, who accepted it despite knowing that it would cost him money he was not sure he had. Speaking up could reveal who he was after all, since he did not know who knew what and there could be grave consequences should his identity be found out.

Thinking she could pawn more books off on the newbies, Julia looked back to grab one last tome to hand to them.

“Lastly, there is a book that…” she paused before actually touching it, and after a moment she decided to not do so at all, “Know what, I think I’ll keep this one to myself. Just in case the rumors are true…”

Not wanting her magical studies to be stunted by a teacher’s insecurity, Trixie balked at the hesitation displayed, “Why can’t we see the last book?”

“Well, Prince Sunstrider was the one who wrote it…” the woman spoke in a whisper, not knowing that she was perhaps speaking to the man in question, “If he really is evil like everyone says, then I might get in trouble if I give it to beginners!”

Not wanting to discuss the topic further and possibly unnerve Kael, Trixie quickly changed the subject to the book already in her possession, “I am a starving student. How can I give you gold?”

“Well, one hundred copper pieces make one silver piece, and one hundred silver is equal to one gold,” came the toothy explanation. Trixie wanted to grumble about how she doubted all teachers were this extorting, but kept it to herself as she considered her total funds.

“With that in mind I am way off…”

Kael prodded Trixie, who looked back to see that he was holding out his hand to give her something in its palm. She rose her brow in confusion before accepting what she assumed to be money, only to find a small object instead in her palm.

A beautiful platinum ring with an orange gem proved to be quite the surprise to Trixie, who gasped slightly at the sight. How had Kael gotten such a beautiful item?

Trixie wanted it for herself, but she wanted magic more, so she held the ring out to the greedy woman.

“What if I sold this? For the books.”

The sight of the ring made the teacher see quite the deal. It was worth just over six gold from its components, but…

She gasped as she recognized the specific qualities of the ring as one she had seen before. A ring that once belonged to a famous woman…

“Oh my. This belonged to…” Julia pushed Trixie’s hand closed around the ring and quickly asserted her newfound lack of greed, “You must be a friend of Lady Windrunner. Please, take the books free of charge.”

Trixie did not know who this “Windrunner” was, but she could appreciate free things.

“Thank you?”

This being done, Julia looked to the man who had pulled the ring out to see if he was anyone important. With his face partially obscured she couldn’t really tell, but got a familiar feeling from what she could see, “Hey, you look kind of familiar. What’s with the face cover?”

Not wanting a person in a position of some power to start wondering about Kael, Trixie grabbed him by one of his torn sleeves and began to drag him away while retreating from the building, “He’s got a bad skin condition, so we should probably get that checked out, thank-you-bye!”

Their escape was easy because of the lack of distance to the exit, and the greedy teacher made no pursuit. Once outside Trixie gave Kael his ring back, which he then played around with in his fingers.

“I guess I will hold onto this.”

Trixie crossed her arms and frowned at Kael. Seeing the ring and hearing of its origins made her suspicious, though she couldn’t pin down her exact feelings why, “Who is Lady Windrunner?”

Honestly not knowing, Kael shrugged. He had just intended to trade the ring for the books. He had woken up with it in his pocket after all, so it wasn’t like he would be losing that much for something far more useful, “An Elf noblewoman perhaps.”

There were no good answers for the next question on Trixie’s mind, which she was well aware of, “And why do you have her ring?”

“I…” hearing the accusation in her voice, Kael feared that perhaps this small thing could make his only friend mistrust him and so he sought a way to mend things, “We’ll have to answer that another day, as I do not know. I doubt I stole it. Maybe I found it?”

There were other ways that Kael could have come across the ring, but Trixie did not want to entertain those thoughts. Her partner was no womanizing thief after all, even if she could admit he could be a ladykiller if he tried, “I do not care for this topic anymore. Let me try out this magic book you so graciously provided me.”

Trixie took a glance at the symbols on the front of the book, realized she could not understand any of them, and them took a look inside. Seeing that this too yielded nothing she could read, Trixie groaned as she realized she just got a book she couldn’t even begin to read. To think that she had nearly bought it!

“I can’t read this,” Trixie quietly pouted, not wanting any of the other Elves in the area to overhear her. She felt embarrassed by her lack of comprehension, while Kael seemed to be amused by her pouting expression.

“Oh right, you don’t seem to understand Thalassian…”

Trixie looked away as she continued to pout, “I don’t even know what Thalassian is.”

There was no getting around it if Trixie wanted to expand her knowledge, she needed to understand what she was reading. Kael sighed as he realized he was going to have to play the role of kindergarten teacher, “This will take awhile…want me to teach you? I remember how to read this, just as I remember a couple spells.”

If it was someone else, Trixie would have been too proud to agree, but this was a polite gentlemen she had grown to trust. While embarrassing, she knew he would not look down on her for being so ignorant.

“Yes, please.,,”

Her reluctant agreement brought a smile to Kael’s face, since her pouting expression could be considered adorable. His partner was quiet the interesting woman, and he foresaw many future moments of such…interest and amusement stemming from her. She had a tendency to act with bravado, only to then fall flat on her face when it came to doing things.

“Well, unlike the language we are speaking now, Thalassian is structured differently…”

It was all Kael could do to keep from imagining Trixie in her undergarments as he explained the basics of their language. He supposed such thoughts would fade with time as they continued to be together and he grew more used to her appearance, but Kael found his face red as he could not stop playing the night’s images through his mind.

It was only a passing fancy. A natural reaction to seeing a beautiful woman in so little. There was nothing more to it…

At least, that’s what he hoped.

“And now you know your A, B, C’s.”

It took a few hours, but Trixie had managed to understand the very basics of Thalassian…or at least enough to read the first entry in her book. Still, Kael’s ending remark to her learning made Trixie glare at him for his playfulness.

“Don’t patronize me.”

“What? You must admit that was a good quip.”

An act of revenge was justified in Trixie’s mind, so she opened her book and began to ready herself for a spell while pretending to continue the lesson, “This first line reads Frie’zudo, correct? Frost Nova you said in the language we are speaking currently?”

Kael nodded, glad that she could pronounce things correctly now, “Correct—”

“Frie’zudo!”

With that, a burst of ice came from Trixie’s body that rapidly slammed into Kael and wrapped around his legs to freeze them and his feet where they were.

Pleased with the result of an annoyed Kael, Trixie smiled to herself as she hugged the book in her arms, “I must admit I am liking this Reicom fellow.”

“Very funny,” sarcastically replied as he created a flame in his hand to melt the ice, only to then realize his lower robes were damp as a result of this. He had to light up another flame to dry them so that he did not have to deal with damp and uncomfortable clothing for the rest of the day, and started to think of how to prank Trixie back.

Given that this pettiness was accomplishing them little in terms of their schoolwork and actually practicing magic, Trixie nodded over to where Erona was standing to bring her companion’s attention there, “We should see how the Magistrix is doing. See if there are any tasks she wishes to see us do now that I have access to a book of spells.”

With some reluctance Kael was brought over to the Magistrix, who had already seen his face and knew his name though had not seemed to consider that perhaps the two things together meant something. Kael was worried that maybe she would realize though in-between giving trainees missions to kill animals, so Trixie had to drag him over, the woman of their duo more confident that things would be fine.

Erona turned from dealing with a perky Priest woman to Trixie, who had announced their presence by clearing her throat, “Oh, you two. Normally I would give students a few more tasks, but I really think it would be best for you two to leave soon. So I’ll just give you one more in order to graduate and leave.”

That felt like a punch to the gut for Trixie, who felt like she was being run out of town, “What is the matter?”

“Your friend looks like a guy that has public opinion split on him. Those in Silvermoon are more supportive of him, while out here…” “Well, people are not fond of the man whose family this area was named after. I don’t want to see people taking their anger out on you two, but I can’t just let you go yet.”

“Fine then. What is our assignment?”

The Magistrix pointed a finger towards the area beyond the fields that the Mana Wyrms had been driven from. In the distance Trixie could see a floating structure that held an architecture similar to the buildings nearby, except for how it was floating in mid air and was mostly open throughout its multiple levels.

“A betrayer of our people resides atop Falthrien Academy to the southwest. Felendren is his name, and he was banished from blood elf lands for failing to heed the warnings of our teachers and elders. He is the worst of our society, as he lives only to feed his insatiable magical addictions. He refused to learn control; he is a shell of his former self - one of the Wretched - and he is a threat to the Sunspire.”

Trixie gulped as she realized all of a sudden what she was about to be told…

“Destroy him and the wraiths he uses as minions.”

Disturbed animals were one thing…a disturbed Elf though?

That was not exactly something she felt she was ready for.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading, and I hope that I can hear your thoughts in the comments below! Comments are :heart: after all!

Levels 4-5: Slippery Slope and Black Ice

A/N: Special thanks to ultronquake, Ketvirtas, Silentmech, refferee, nioniosbbbb, JakJak75, knetch, terrycloth, God of Physics, and Schroedingers_Katze for your comments last chapter, and I hope to hear from you all again this chapter as well as from those of you who may not have commented before! Please leave your thoughts below, and I hope you enjoy!

Trixie and Kael had to pass by a series of living trees in order to get to the area where the Wretched target was. Kael was unnerved by the moving treants, which he heard a nearby Elf call “Tenders”, and how their bark creaked as they shuffled along the ground with their feet-shaped roots. Trixie was not exactly a fan either, but she ignored them as they crossed the field to reach the spire where Felendren “the Banished” was holed up. The trees were not their objective, and they were not seemingly interested in picking a fight on their own.

A ramp that touched down at the edge of the field, where the grass was replaced by water, and granted entrance to the upper levels of the floating structure. The first platform it led to was only the size of a normal room, though it had no ceiling. On it though Trixie could see some floating creatures that appeared ethereal, and their pinkish bodies could easily be missed from afar with how they might blend with the sky.

These must be the wraiths in question. Trixie, in an attempt to not be belligerent, decided to not attack them with magic from afar. She would see first if they were in fact a threat before engaging in combat.

Trixie walked up the ramp to the platform, and the beings floating there gave no reaction to her approach. Kael put himself in-between them and Trixie, but they still did not seem to care that these two Elves were invading their place.

“Are they going to attack us?” Trixie whispered to Kael, who shrugged.

“It appears not…”

The man in charge then, this Felendren, must be a weak magic user if his summoned guards are not even capable of attacking intruders. The idea that they would be facing such a weak spellcaster made Trixie feel more comfortable, as she was expecting it to be an actual problem and a possibly difficult encounter.

In fact, it made her feel really good because Trixie was confident she could restrain and bring someone in with her new Frost Nova spell.

“Some guards. He can’t even summon beings that will stop intruders!”

They left that platform by walking on another ramp, each of the Elves being careful where they stepped because of the long fall beneath them and the relative lack of structures to keep someone from falling. At the end of the ramp was a much larger structure, this one with two floors.

This second part revealed much bulkier floating beings, these ones green and with wrist bracers, but they were not hostile either and just floated around idly as if they were completely mindless. Like a jellyfish, only magical and not prone to making beach trips regrettable.

The two found it easy to just walk on past this next set of sentries to approach the final ramp, which they assumed would lead to their foe. He was supposedly here, and they had not seen another Elf yet.

Both Trixie and Kael crept up the final ramp slowly, being careful not to possibly alert him to their presence if he did not already know. Fortunately they were not met with any resistance on the way, with the Elf on the final floor of the oddly shaped structure not noticing them.

To get a better idea about the encounter before engaging in it, Trixie began to survey the platform. Unlike the last two which she left as quickly as possible, this one she might be forced to be on for quite some time if the fight was a long one.

Vases, some floating plant pots, random books strewn about…it appeared to have no real system or reason, and Trixie could see by the arrangement of it all that she was clearly dealing with someone who was mentally unhinged.

Felendren was sickly pale even for an Elf, and his weight appeared to be unhealthy by the standards of the thin Elves. In fact, Trixie considered herself quite skinny and this man appeared to be even slighter than her. His head was balding even if he did not appear all that elderly, and his auburn hair was gathered mostly in the back where its length gave him quite then odd appearance since it contrasted greatly with his reflective head. He only wore a simple red shirt, ugly gloves with a brown coloration, similar boots, and a matching brown loincloth.

If he had not been considered crazy already, Trixie would have decided it right then. So this was what a Wretched was…

Preparing her Frostfire spell, Trixie leapt out from the end of the ramp to the final platform and yelled at the Wretched Elf.

“Stop there you fiend! We are here to apprehend you, so you had best—”

As soon as she had reached the top of the ramp, Felendren turned to her and snarled madly. He charged at Trixie as she realized that if he hit her where she was standing she could fall and possibly tumble off the platform.

Trixie jumped onto the platform and away from his first strike, causing Felendren to swipe at thin air and nearly hit Kael instead. Kael, not pleased by the near hit, began to prepare his own spell when Trixie held a hand up for him to stop. She had just finished gathering herself after her sudden lunge to the side, and she still wanted to do this without bloodshed…if possible.

“As I was saying, you had best surrender—”

Felendren ignored Kael and charged at Trixie again, seeming to focus on the one who was talking and thus drawing his attention, “Take heart! Your friends will not long mourn your passing!”

Kael swore under his breath that he would mind, while Trixie ducked under another quick attack from the mad Elf. She had begun to charge her other spell to try and slow him down, but he was stopping her from reading from her book as he continued to try and hit her.

As Kael yanked Felendren back to prevent him from striking Trixie, he managed to do just that. His clawlike hand struck Trixie across the face, drawing blood as she finished reading from her book.

“Frie’zudo!”

The ground in front of her froze where she directed the spell, and to avoid slipping Kael let go of the man and dashed to the side. Felendren, meanwhile, did not seem to mind the ice now coating some of his floor and tried to desperately rush at Trixie again.

“I’m warning you Thele-whatever your name is—”

He took one last swipe at his foe, only to slip and slide right past Trixie as she moved to dodge it anyways. As he continued to slip and slide Trixie took a hand to her scratched cheek and muttered to herself, “Dear Luna, will you let me finish a damn sentence—”

His cries of terror as he slipped off the side of the platform and into the air made Trixie pause as she realized that she had just caused him to kill himself. Trixie moved over to the edge of the platform and looked down from a spot where no ice was, only to grimace at the sight she saw. His fall had been about a hundred feet and he hit the very edge of the plains with his face, leaving little of the essential body part left.

“It was an accident!” she cried out defensively as she blanched at the sight, quickly turning away and bringing a hand to cover her mouth to prevent any bile from rising.

Seeing that the accidental murder was getting to Trixie, Kael approached her and brought her into a hug to calm her down. Trixie accepted the hug and quickly buried her face in his shoulder and chest, her mind freaking out over what she just did.

“I didn’t mean to…”

Kael was angry with himself that he didn’t have any real ability to stop it from happening, since it was too fast for him to melt the ice as the man slipped and he had no way of slowing his fall. Still, the man had attacked them, and Trixie had tried her best to reason with him to no avail. He had a feeling this would take some time for her to get used to, that there were just some wicked people out there.

“Trixie, he attacked you, and there did not seem like a chance he would stop. Do not mourn such a man, for his soul was already gone from this world,” Kael paused to stroke her back gently as she continued to sob, “We may go up against real threats, real foes who cannot be stopped without us fighting with the intent to kill them. Do you think you can handle that?”

“I…”

Removing herself from Kael, Trixie wiped her face of her tears and crossed her arms over her chest. She realized that she must have appeared weak and she decided that such a display in front of another person was not acceptable.

Trixie couldn’t bring herself to look at him as she spoke, instead looking at the quickly thawing ice, “I reserve the right to take prisoners, but if they refuse to be reasoned with and will bring harm to others I see no other choice than defeating them in combat.”

Even with her trying to act tough, Kael decided to still show his support. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled, not personally as broken up about the death of the man and much more glad that his friend was safe, “Don’t worry. I can try to shoulder the burden of the killing as much as possible, but you cannot hesitate if the time comes. I would rather you live than anyone we fight.”

Uncomfortable at the touch for a reason she could not explain, Trixie again moved away from him and towards the ramp they had come from, “Come, let’s go back.”

Upon approaching it, Trixie realized that the green wraiths from below were rapidly moving up it. Their quick pace felt threatening in how determined they moved, and Trixie realized that perhaps they were going to try and protect their master…even if it was too late.

Getting a new idea about how to leave, Trixie first chucked her book off the way their target fell and then approached another edge of the platform while speaking to Kael, “I think killing him made them angry.”

Seeing the incoming Wraiths just about to reach the top of the ramp, Kael followed Trixie so that they could confront the threat together, “They should disappear without his power in a little bit. Defeating them without lifting a finger against them if we just last a moment longer.”

“Water breaks someone’s fall, right?”

The question made Kael’s stomach flop. She wasn’t thinking of jumping into the pool of water underneath this side of the platform, was she?

To make sure she wasn’t going to do anything rash, Kael decided to clarify, “Yes, it does, but why do you ask?”

About eight of the ethereal beings had come atop the platform across from where Trixie and Kael stood, and they seemed preoccupied with finding their master because of how they did not instantly rush at the two Elves. Not willing to stick around and possibly fight them, Trixie saluted the glowing beings and laughed as she stepped towards the edge.

“Sorry wraiths and assorted energy people, but the Great and Powerful Trixie is about to do a disappearing act. Farewell!”

Trixie prepared to jump off and make her exit, only to trip over her robe and tumble off the edge similarly to the Wretched man’s own fall. Kael was pleased that water was beneath them, but if she didn’t land right she could still get severely hurt.

“How graceful…”

With a sigh, Kael shook his head and prepared to jump as well.

Oh the things he did for the sake of friendship…at least his bag was waterproof.

When Kael struck the water, he expected to find Trixie on her way out of the semi-shallow water. The area the landed in was only as deep as one might find in a pool, becoming quite shallow quickly as land was quite close nearby and becoming much deeper in the opposite direction.

Apparently this was why it was called Sunstrider Isle.

Before Kael could really observe Trixie’s status, he fought to keep himself afloat in his robes as they absorbed far too much water.

“Are you okay?” he called out as he finally managed to start treading water, his head just barely above it all.

“I can’t swim!” Trixie cried out as she began to flail around him and thrash her limbs in the water, her body forcing her head above the liquid as she tried to not drown.

With the realization that they were only a couple feet from safety, Kael stopped using one arm to tread and instead used it to grab the back of Trixie’s robe, “I got you.”

With her in his grasp, Kael put his well toned muscles to use and dragged both of them over to the shore, where Trixie quickly crawled away from the waves. She coughed up some of the water as Kael started straightening himself out, not as tired or bothered by the affair as she was.

“I didn’t think you would be the type who can’t swim,” he commented while looking down at Trixie, who was taking in deep breaths to help her oxygen starved lungs.

“I thought I could…” Trixie coughed again, and her voice sounded both parts weak and sad as she tried to talk with some difficulty, “For some reason when I tried though I just started flailing. I think something is wrong with me…”

The dejection in her statement made Kael pity her, but he could not honestly say that he had not noticed something was off with her. After all, she was quite the oddity, and Kael would readily believe that she wasn’t from around here at all. She even sat like an animal might at the table, so perhaps she came from the more savage Kalimdor?

Whatever the case, he decided to not speak so as to let the matter drop entirely. That way she could feel better about herself soon, and not seem like she was either crying or just having water drip from her face.

Once calmed down, Trixie looked over at Kael. Unlike him, she was perfectly fine pointing out things she found odd about him, albeit without real malignance in her statement.

“Your clothes are soaked.”

Kael shrugged, having realized from the moment they were going to jump away from their foes that this would be the result, “As are yours, and you don’t see me complaining.”

Trixie looked down at her completely soaked robe and laughed, “You’re right.”

Not quite in the right state of mind, and also not remembering what little she knew about Elven modesty, Trixie quickly began to set about removing the soaked clothing she had on. Kael spat out a bit of water still in his mouth at the sight of Trixie once again only in her underwear as she removed the robe completely, this only not escalating further because the supposed prince’s quick addressing of the issue.

“W-what are you doing?”

Trixie turned back to face him, her eyebrow raised as she looked at him with her own curiosity. Why did he care if she was removing unnecessary clothing? She wasn’t feeling all that cold with how warm it was out, and she didn’t particularly feel as if clothes were the natural state of things, “Undressing. My clothes need to dry. Why do you care?”

Kael blushed as he turned away, since Trixie began to continue despite his protest, “Clothes are meant to preserve modesty.”

That brought a laugh out from Trixie, who had just removed the dripping wet cloth that had bound her chest, “I have no modesty, haven’t you learned?” she laughed as Kael groaned at her lack of comprehension, “And how would keeping my clothes on make me humble anyways?”

Being too polite to look at her without anything up top, Kael turned around completely and sighed, “I think you may have really hit your head before you woke up. People will give you weird looks if you do not at least wear a little more.”

“But I’m soaking wet and that’s uncomfortable…” Trixie whined as she realized he probably had a point. Everyone else was wearing clothes after all, even if some Elves were wearing semi-revealing ones.

“We need new clothes anyways, remember?” Kael reminded Trixie, hoping to settle the issue with bringing up her own point from the night before.

Trixie began to place her clothes back on begrudgingly, her voice displaying her displeasure over the effort of putting back on the drenched robes, “No, you needed new clothes.”

Kael turned to check on Trixie, who he doubted would announce having her clothes back on, and was pleased to see she was almost done, “Just keep your clothes on for my sake.”

“Fine, but only because I don’t want others to laugh at me.”

Magistrix Erona was blankly looking at the pair of drenched Elves as they recounted their recent events, ending with Trixie stating:

“So, he kind of fell off the edge of the spire, and his head wasn’t really in a position to be brought back…”

Erona was just dumbfounded that these two managed to actually get the job done, especially since they skipped a few steps of training, but she wasn’t going to complain about a nuisance being removed from the land. She held out a letter to the two along with a pouch of coins, a smile upon her face to display her approval despite her exasperation at their mentioned incompetence. Trixie had attempted to embellish the tale only for Kael to point out she tripped off the edge when trying to make a flashy exit, only to then almost drown.

“Good work nonetheless. I will give you extra coins to make up for the time you are no longer going to be here, and here is a missive from me to grant you permission into Silvermoon City.”

Trixie took the sealed letter, only to then hand it to Kael because he had the bag. It was enough for her to carry around a large book, which she had recovered from where it “fell” (quite perfectly, she might add, with no noticeable damage).

“We need a permission letter just to get in?”

A small nod came from Erona, who did not seem happy to think about the subject, “Regent Lord Lor’themar Theron has placed harsh restrictions on activities related to our capital city. Everything is to be controlled and sanctioned there, and by that I mean quite literally everything, including the people and their actions.”

Since Kael was still trying to lay low, Trixie continued to do the speaking as he made sure his scarf covered as much of his face as he could manage, “Well, thank you for your aid. Until we meet again.”

Erona gave them each a nod goodbye, and with that they began to head to the path that lead towards the inn they slept at. A map provided by the innkeeper showed that Silvermoon was located quite close by to it, and there was little else to do in the Isle for the two since Erona was basically telling them to get out before too many others got suspicious of them.

Once they were far enough away to not be heard, Trixie poked Kael on the shoulder, “Shall we stop by this capital city of ours next, or do something else? I bet they have a magnificent inn we can stay at there!”

Content to follow Trixie in whatever she wanted to do, Kael decided to let her choose despite their status as equal partners in decision making, “I have no direction currently. Perhaps Silvermoon will serve as a good place to gather information that we can then use to decide our next course of action.”

“Silvermoon it is, then! Maybe they have a bakery?”

Trixie managed to bribe the wagon drivers to bring them to the area right in front of Silvermoon, though the drivers explained they didn’t really care to go to the actual city. Trixie let them go after slipping them a couple silver coins, which she had an abundance of after the large pouch of silver and copper Erona gave her.

The city was beautiful even from the outside, as the tall outer walls were decorated with the same intricate patterns located on the building Trixie woke up beside the day prior. Red, gold, floating plants…the outer walls had the same kind of feel that Trixie was beginning to grow fond of, especially with the nearby lush trees.

Kael gulped at the sight of the front, which was not even a gate but an open passage that seemed to open up like a T shape into the tall wall. In the middle, however, was what made him nervous: a statue easily a hundred feet tall that was of a man who looked strikingly like himself.

Trixie nudged him and smiled up at it, seeing it not as a negative thing but rather as a sign that he really was a prince, which was awesome in her eyes.

At the front gates, however, a less jovial couple was standing. Two armed guards with soft red and golden armor, weapons, and shields stood vigil and were there to prevent entry. Trixie found it interesting that the city would have such a poor method of preventing others from coming in, but she supposed they weren’t facing as many invasions these days.

Trixie was forced to partially drag Kael towards the guards, since he was worried they would recognize him with a stunning model of him right behind them. Trixie decided that they could just come up with some lie if they questioned it, and at worst reveal his identity since the rumors were seemingly only rumors thus far. They couldn’t just arrest them over nothing, right?

“Halt,” came the voice of each guard as the two Blood Elves approached. Having expected this, Trixie took the letter out of her book and stopped using it as a book mark.

One guard turned to Kael and held out a hand, “Your papers?”

Annoyed that they asked Kael for the papers and not her, Trixie shoved it into the man’s hands and smiled cheekily. The guard opened the envelope and quickly read it over, and after a moment he nodded to the two in approval.

In this time the other guard took interest in Kael’s scarf, even poking it with one edge of his blade gently in an attempt to pull it off, “What are you hiding under that mask, traveler?”

Trixie pushed Kael back a step to prevent the blade from actually removing the scarf, and she confidently began to lie to them, “His lower face is misshapen from a bad run-in with the local wildlife. His pride keeps him from embarrassing himself from showing it to others.”

The one with the letter nodded as he continued to look over the document, “Your names?”

“Trixie Lulamoon, and this is my brother,” Trixie tried coming up with a random name that sounded Elvish, “Kelt’hazaid Lulamoon.”

Kael groaned at her poor choice, thinking it a silly name, but he did not want to speak and possibly be found out as a possible traitor prince.

The guards look to one another briefly before shrugging and handing back the letter, “How unfortunate to share a name with the man whose revival corrupted the Sunwell.”

Trixie chuckled, surprised that she had managed to guess an existing name, “Yes, quite.”

Kael nervously looked up at the statue, still worried he would be found out, but to his surprise the guards moved out of the way, “Very well, you may enter. Keep those documents with you if you wish to gain entry or leave.”

Trixie once again grabbed her companion and began to drag him, wanting to get away from the guards as soon as possible, “Thank you!”

Once they ducked inside, the hallway reversed itself and they managed to exit on the opposite side of the structure. When she was sure she was out of earshot, Trixie whispered to Kael.

“Wow, these guys are really serious…”

While the lack of real gate security was appalling, Kael could understand why the guards might be stern, “Seeing as how our race is in such dire straits, I can understand why, to some degree.”

Still, Trixie felt a little put off by how they had to be given permission to come in, and the guards weren’t just relaxed about it. Were things really that bad?

“I guess…”

Trixie’s words trailed off as she started to look around. Tan buildings with golden and red highlights surrounded them, and Trixie found herself amazed by the sheer size of it all. The city seemed to sprawl quite a ways beyond the gate, greatly outstripping the Farstrider Square in terms of size, and the magnificent shapes and architecture impressed them both.

Kael moved beside Trixie so she would stop dragging him, though even with this done she kept her hand on his bicep. He did not complain, not really caring about it, but he made an effort to keep in step with her as they began to walk. The entrance opened up into a U shaped path. They went along the left side of it, going past what appeared to be an inn and some shops as they just began to experience it all.

On the path, moving the opposite way, was a golem of sorts. Its body had the same kind of design of the buildings, only shaped like a humanoid, and it moved about as if it was a living being. Trixie found herself curious how it worked, but she expected the answer was magic, as how else could such a large contraption work? It was quite large, standing at about one and a half times Kael’s height, and Trixie wondered also what it was for? Was it some robot made to assist people?

“Happiness is mandatory, citizen,” the mechanical being proclaimed as it patrolled down the corridor, amusing Trixie with its seeming joyful attitude. It wanted them to be happy, which was a nice feature for a serving robot.

As they reached the end of the path, Trixie and Kael realized that they needed to take a left to continue as the other path ended. To their left it continued instead into a large square, with what appeared to be merchants and people of all sorts like some kind of bazaar. Trixie rushed into it with the hopes of finding a bread merchant, only to find something else catching her attention.

As Kael caught up to her, Trixie tugged on his sleeve and pointed to a large gathering of Elves in one corner of the bazaar, “Hey, look at all those people. Maybe they know something that can help us?”

Kael would have spoke, but a voice yelling out to the crowd cut him off.

“My brothers and sisters. Listen to me. We must speak of the survival of our people. We have narrowly survived one calamity, but I fear the next shall destroy us!”

The voice was coming from an auburn haired woman with a sleeveless shirt similar to her hair color standing on the far side of the crowd. Beside her stood a man in green cloth robes with a wise appearance, appearing quite calm in contrast to the rowdy appearance of the crowd before the two of them.

The woman continued to address those gathered with concern in her voice, “Can you not see what is happening? Open your eyes. It is laid bare for all to see. What is this new alliance? Why have we betrayed our allies of old, only to take up with the enemies of all that live?”

One of the members of the crowd shouted back with fervor, “No, you're wrong! We were the ones betrayed!”

Their comment was followed up by another from the crowd, “When have the Dwarves ever been our friends?”

Kael and Trixie looked to one another, but neither made any move to approach the group. What was this argument about?

“The Humans abandoned us in our darkest hour! Their prince himself led the assault on our lands,” came another disgruntled voice from those gathered.

The man in green shook his head at the comments he was hearing from those he was speaking to, “You fool! The prince's minions were the very Forsaken we have now allied ourselves with, and now he has betrayed us.”

“The Ranger-General of Silvermoon will be a loyal ally!”

“You speak of her as friend? You are a fool. This "Dark Lady" is not Sylvanas,” the woman in front retorted.

Ranger General, Dark Lady…Sylvanas…these things sounded familiar to Kael, and made him look back to the ring he had found in his belonging previously.

“Blood will be true. We can trust in none but our own.”

The woman scoffed, “Blood? And these Orcs, these fair weather friends? They will aid us?”

The man beside her continued with a dramatic voice, “A great blight lies across our land! It grows every day. Our need for magic weakens us, and will bring us to destruction, just as it has before!”

Trixie frowned as she remembered that she needed to feed on magic…luckily she had not felt that bad that day, but she was curious how Kael was holding up.

The crowd seemed astonished to hear his proclamation, “How are we to live without magic?”

“Look at the wonders of this city! This is magic!” another cried.

“But at what cost? You've all been blinded. We have all been blinded,” came the man’s response, his voice weary.

The crowd seemed to not be pleased by what had been said previously, “You call us traitors?”

“The magisters are traitors! They have sealed our doom,” the woman explained, her voice desperate. The crowd did not seem to be buying their arguments.

“Idealistic blather. Go back to your forests!”

“You would have us like savages!”

Their response seemed to be worrying those up front, who had not seemingly expected to face such opposition, “No, not savagery! Conscience. The excesses of our people will destroy us, and all that we have struggled to build.”

Unknown to both Trixie and Kael, a figure in the crowd began to look over at them with interest.

“We have not struggled so hard to survive, only to bring about the true destruction,” the man’s partner added, her voice still strong unlike his more weary one.

With a bit of effort the green clothed man rose his voice again and regained some vigor, “We stand on the brink of destruction. We must reconsider this rash course of action.”

Kael noticed three Elves in the crowd summon through magic another person, this one being a man with crimson robes with a black flair to them. This action seemed to frighten the people leading the public forum of sorts, as they began to speak up much more quickly.

“If we speak as one we cannot be ignored!” the woman shouted, trying to rally the citizens.

The man tried next in rapid succession, “Lend us your voices! Now is the time we must act to save our people.”

The man who had been summoned began to cast a spell, though Kael could not tell what kind.

Just before the newcomer could finish the spell, the man in green robes blurted out desperately, “Lor'themar must hear us! We will not be silenced!”

The spell completed, and the two rabble-rousers fell silent as their eyes went blank.

The man who had been summoned turned to face those who summoned him and spoke in a sickeningly smug voice, “That should take care of that. Summon me if you have further need of my services.”

Trixie unconsciously began to grip the arm of her companion, who in turn took her hand in his own to comfort her. They did not know what just happened, but whatever spell had been cast it could not have been good. Was this just everyday life in Silvermoon? The crowd did not seem at all put off by it.

The crimson robed man departed, and once he was out of the crowd the woman returned to speaking.

In an unnatural, forced voice she addressed everyone again, “We will pay back the Alliance for their betrayal a thousandfold. We will never forgive and never forget.”

Beside her, the man gestured to the area around everyone, “Lor'themar has remade Silvermoon into something we may truly be proud of.”

It was then that Kael and Trixie both realized that the man who had been summoned just brainwashed these two with mind control.

“Kael…I don’t want to be here anymore.”

Agreeing fully but also not wanting to be seen as a dissenting figure, Kael quietly stepped away from it all while guiding Trixie with an arm to do the same.

On the way back to the entrance, Trixie noticed a cringing woman with black hair crumpled on the ground by a shop. Trixie instantly rushed to their side and knelt down beside them, worried that perhaps they were hurt.

“Are you okay?”

The woman on the ground looked around nervously before pushing Trixie away, the frightened lady’s gaze upon an approaching golem, “Please, just leave me. I don’t want to get in any more trouble…”

Trixie furrowed her brow, but the sight of the approaching automaton made her realize something terrible: the golems weren’t just there to help…they were there as menacing sentries to keep everyone in line.

Trixie scurried back to Kael just as the golem began to approach the woman, its automated voice chirping, “Obey the laws of Silvermoon. Failure to do so will result in termination. Do not resist arrest further. Dissent is prohibited.”

Both of them turned away from whatever was about to happen, not wanting to think about whatever brutality the hulking robot might inflict upon the woman after its threat.

"Remain strong. Kael'thas will lead you to power and glory!" came the voice of another sentry on the way out, this one looming by the entrance.

Kael had seen enough of the Elven capital for a lifetime. Taking Trixie’s arm, he continued to lead her away in a more forceful manner.

“Let’s return to the inn.”

Once safely outside the city, past the guards, and Farstrider Inn, Trixie threw herself on top of their shared bed and let herself sink into its soft frame. She could not believe that the capital of their race was a fascist state that was seemingly repressing and mind controlling its inhabitants.

“Okay, that place…”

Kael sat down beside her, his shoulders hanging as he thought back to their experience there and how disappointing it was, “I was expecting it to be a beautiful place…” he sighed and shook his head, “Physically it is, but beyond its appearance it is a blight upon this world.”

Trixie’s eyes lit up as something came to her. Like a spark had been lit in her, she jumped up onto her feet and clenched her fists. Kael looked up at her as she turned around and she threw a hand back towards the doorway, “We’ve been wondering what to do, right? Well I think I know what your goal should be now. While I wish to become a powerful mage and become famous, you have your own epic story to embark on.”

Kael was curious where she was going with this, so he simply nodded to let her say what she had come up with. He was fine with being given a quest by her that he could make his own personal one.

Trixie pointed a finger at Kael before retracting it to clench the fist and bring it in to her chest, “You’re the noble prince that will one day rise up and take his land back from the evil chancellor who has usurped the throne, saving your people and freeing them from tyranny!”

Was this some game to her? Kael found himself laughing at the thought of the two of them overthrowing that tyranny, “You think that this is some fairy tale?”

His reaction deflated Trixie partially, though she remained spirited, “I am merely observing the roles of the story you are bound to go on.”

“Okay, and what part do you play in this fable?”

That brought back Trixie’s full emotion, her face smug and containing the haughtiness Kael was beginning to enjoy seeing if only to watch her inevitably trip herself up with it, “I am the skillful anti-hero who is instrumental to the rise of the noble hero, and gets to share in all the fame and fortune when the story ends.”

Kael’s definition of anti-hero differed from hers, though he simply thought she was misusing the term, “You don’t seem dark and edgy.”

Trixie shook her head, annoyed that she was being corrected when she wasn’t actually wrong, “No no no, classical anti-hero, not current anti-hero. Skillful instead of brutish, able to use wit to accomplish things the classical hero cannot and forming synergy with such a character by complementing eachother’s traits.”

“I would almost agree with you if I was not also intelligent, but I will cede the point that I am stronger than you, at least currently.”

“You have a half day of extra practice,” Trixie whined, trying to justify the fact that she was still behind him in magic practice.

“And actually understand the language we’re learning from,” Kael added jokingly, though it was true.

“Quiet, Kael.”

Still, the idea of playing the hero to an epic story…

Kael tilted his head back and smiled at the ceiling. His prideful friend would expect no less of him, would she? Saving a whole kingdom…

While perhaps barely trained and amnesiac, Kael started to like the idea the more and more he thought about it. With how low the Blood Elf population was, their military ought to be in pretty poor shape. With how they had to spread that small group amongst presumably a whole kingdom, that made it pretty spread thin. With a formidable force of competent soldiers and allies, Kael could perhaps pull off the retaking of his kingdom…

That required allies though, and at the moment it was just the two of them. In reality they could use some muscle on their journey like any good heroic group, and Kael was afraid he was not quite the epitome of physical might.

“If you want to turn this into a true heroic story, we are going to have to find someone to act as our muscle, someone to play the part of the brain, and someone who is able to keep the group together with some kind of charm.”

Trixie waved a hand dismissively, since she was quite happy with how things were between them and did not like the idea of possible adding another to interrupt their dynamic, “I’m sure we’ll find someone when the time comes. For now though I think we are fine just with the two of us.”

While entertaining the idea and finding himself enjoying the thought of being a savior of a whole species, Kael still had some reservations on the whole notion, “Still, I’m not quite sure about this whole endeavor…what if I am not the prince?”

While he might not be convinced he was really Kael’Thas Sunstrider, Trixie was more than convinced after seeing the giant statue. It was too great a coincidence to not be true, “Oh please, you look just like him, and you have his name. That man elsewhere in that Outlands place must be a fake, created by some evil entity to besmirch your name.”

She had a point…and so Kael decided to give in. If he could do some good, why not? It was not as if he had anything else to do, and if he was the true prince it was his duty to do this, right?

“I suppose that if I truly am Kael’Thas Sunstrider that it is my duty to free my people from his evil sway, as well as take back my position here and dethrone this…Lycanthrope Themer everyone is talking about.”

Trixie frowned at the butchered name, but she could do no better as she tried to remember it, “Lorphope Teamer?”

The fact that neither of them could get it right made Kael laugh, since it wasn’t right for the heroes of a story to not know the name of their arch-nemesis, “I suppose we should find out the villain’s name before we set on our little quest.”

Their little talk of treason was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat at their doorway, making each of them turn their attention to where the innkeeper was standing.

“Excuse me, but there is a man here to see you.”

Trixie instantly deflated in ego, worrying suddenly that the police were coming for them and their plan to overthrow the government one day, but Kael smiled as he stood up. He could see a man standing behind the innkeeper, and he did not want to be rude and be sitting when they came in.

“Please, come in.”

The man stepped forward as the innkeeper excused herself, and once he was through the veil that acted as a “door” to the room, the two inhabitants of it found themselves astonished. He was wearing a suit of uniform black armor, signifying that he was a part of some military group, but that was not what drew their attention.

“Thank you…” the man responded as he finished entering, his eyes locking with those of Kael’thas.

One of the visitor’s eyes was glowing an eerie blue, and the other shining pitch black.

The tall, apparent soldier smiled as he finished speaking, “Lord Kael’Thas Sunstrider.”

Author's Note

Thanks for reading, and I hope that I can hear your thoughts in the comments below! Comments are :heart: after all!

Level 6: The Two Pillars of Silvermoon

A/N: Special thanks to nioniosbbbb, God Of Physics, ChaoticLightning, refferee, Ketvirtas, Magestikus, Quixotic Enigma, Thegodhand, and Tinee_The_TinCan for your comments last chapter, and I hope to hear from you all again this chapter as well as from those of you who may not have commented before! Please leave your thoughts below, and I hope you enjoy!

Kael was instantly taken aback by being addressed by his actual name. Despite being in Silvermoon City for only minutes, someone had seen through his disguise. Its lack of intricacy could be criticized, but the ones at Sunstrider Isle’s main area were all seemingly content with the thought that he was a lookalike. After all, his rags and limited magical ability separated him greatly from the man who ought to be their King but kept the title of Prince.

As Kael fought his initial urge to take a step back in surprise, Trixie found herself intrigued by this as well. This man, unlike the guards, was not likely going to buy some lame excuse that he was Kel’Thuzad Lulamoon or whatever the fake name she came up with was. With this in mind, Trixie approached the two and stood directly to Kael’s side, waiting and seeing where he would lead the conversation.

Still surprised, due in part to him being heavily frightened as a result of the dangerous local government and his dishonorable reputation, Kael tried a weak attempt at dismissing the man’s claim, “I am not quite sure you have the right man…”

The man appeared to be perfectly fine with Kael’s denial, though his long face betrayed little of his actual feelings as it did not appear the most expressive. What little was revealed though was a small hint of a smile, with his differently glowing eyes hiding anything his eyes may have otherwise revealed, “Unlike you, I am quite sure.”

To both Trixie and Kael’s surprise, the mysterious visitor’s next action was to bend down to one knee and begin kneeling in front of the man whom he claimed to be Kael’thas Sunstrider.

The man continued to speak once his head bowed as well, his blue eye illuminating the floor beneath him to some degree, “Forgive my forwardness, my lord, but nothing you say can convince me that you are not the prince I served under after the fall of the Sunwell.”

Uncomfortable partially with the fact that someone was showing royal respect to him and also not wanting to make the man act as some subservient being, Kael gestured over to the table the inn room offered.

“Come, sit.”

The man obliged gracefully, not rushing to his feet as he accepted the offer. Trixie took a seat at the table too, grumbling about not being paid any attention by their visitor, while both Kael and the man took seats opposite one another. Trixie moved her own to be beside her partner, whose face appeared curious to find out what this stranger had to offer and what his purpose was in being there.

Once sitting, Trixie and Kael each began to look their visitor over more. He appeared to have a broader but not massive build unlike any of the Elves they had come across so far, with shoulders quite wide. His body was not otherwise burly, with a chest only marginally larger than Kael’s own slim frame, and his arms and legs did not appear giant beneath his midnight black armor.

After a moment of silence between all three, the stranger introduced himself with a gesture to his body, “I am Captain Reuenthal of the Farstriders, and I come here seeking your aid.”

Kael and Trixie looked to one another and each gave a look of worry. What could someone in the military possibly need of them that he could not have his forces do?

To help explain himself, the Captain decided to explain some of his mindset, “I do not know why specifically you are ‘laying low’, but I can understand the need for doing so with the baseless rumors spreading around this region. I apologize if any of this may interfere with your reason for being here, and your reason for keeping a low profile.”

With Trixie granting him nonverbal permission, Kael prodded further since he did not know what was actually being asked of them, “What is it that is troubling you? I cannot promise that I will help, but I can hear you out and see what I could do for you,” Kael’s green eyes looked directly into the mismatched pair of Reuenthal’s, the sight of which had made Kael curious about why this man had a unique coloration much like Trixie. Perhaps there was a connection, perhaps not, but the irregular coloration was interesting to take note of, “First though, may I ask a question of you?”

The slight smile widened by a mere smidge at the question about asking a question, “My eyes, I assume. They are quite disconcerting for those unused to my presence,” Reuenthal brought a hand to cover his darker eye almost without thought, “I suffer from a rare condition that results in humans known as heterochromia. This condition caused by my human blood has bled through to my Elven features, and so my eyes are not what one might consider natural.”

Still feeling ignored, Trixie spoke up in a similar pursuit of knowledge stemming from her experience looking at herself in the mirror, “My eyes are purple. Is that normal?”

Reuenthal closed his eyes and shook his head, the small expression of amusement leaving and being replaced by a blank countenance, “No, but two matching eyes that glow purple are better than a dark grey and a blue set that result from a human flaw. I have heard of another who has purple eyes, though I must admit it is by no means common.”

His response left a new silence, for a new question arose from his statement about human blood. He implied that he was at least part human, and given his larger appearance compared to other Blood Elves it was quite believable that he was not a pure Elf. Even so, with the current strained relationship between Humans and Elves there was quite the question hanging now about where he stood in this issue.

If he had Human blood running through him, it could explain his own seeming lack of unity with the Silvermoon government which surely would have wanted him to haul Kael in either to act as a figure or as a prisoner if the city’s ruler was as ruthless as he seemed.

Sensing what Trixie and Kael both must be thinking, Reuenthal gained his small smile again, the look contradicting the great gravity that came from his words, “But yes, I am a Half-Elf. Born of adultery on my mother’s behalf. When I was born she attempted to carve out my dark eye, to hide her infidelity, but in the end she turned the knife on herself.”

His words left a deep pit in Trixie’s stomach, and in fact made her feel as if she was going to throw up. The idea of a mother harming a child resonated with her, but in the manner that it felt familiar and uncomfortable both.

Reuenthal’s face tilted down partially to look at the table, its surface bare beside the candles similar to how his face was near expressionless outside of his masochistic smile, “Racial discrimination has left me with few friends, and I only have one whom I trust completely,” this said, the man looked up to lock eyes with Kael’thas with a renewed intensity, “He is a Captain like myself, and he is being wrongfully held by authorities outside of Silvermoon City at a nearby outpost.”

So that was what he came to speak about, the two mages then recognized. He had come to seemingly oppose the government…though his willingness to ask the supposed Prince of the land for help rose further questions. Did he believe Kael could pardon the man, or did he expect Kael to help free the man through more brutish means?

On the same wavelength as her partner, none of those questions mattered if the man imprisoned deserved it however, so Trixie inquired about the reason for this imprisonment, “What are the crimes he is charged with?”

“Public disorder and dissent. Because of his higher than average stature in our society as a Captain, they cannot try and deal with him in public like they do some others.”

Reuenthal paused to narrow his eyes and lose the smile, his already serious demeanor heightening as he recounted the events that led to his friend’s arrest.

“In truth, he was arrested for a struggle between him and some members of the advisory council that began when the council members dared to spread the rumor of your majesty’s alleged wrong doing, as well as insult you personally and claim you to be a traitor to our people. Now he stands to be executed at an unknown time, in a quiet manner that will not be made public. The cowards who accuse him will have records show that he fell in battle to the Scourge, or at least they will if they have any sense of self-preservation. Even striking a superior officer would be let go in the instance of defending your majesty’s honor, so they know their actions are illicit and unacceptable, but their pride disallows them from acting otherwise.”

The disgust the man held towards the government officials came forth even despite his even tone. His speech was stiff and his eyes gave the feeling of someone who was stressed out with how they narrowed at the mere mention of these people.

That he was being so candid with his feelings gave Kael the impression that this was a man who most definitely was not among the crowd who supported the propaganda and manipulation evident in the city, where someone who held such views publically would be forcibly converted. That he was revealing them to someone he saw as separate and possibly opposed was also telling, as Kael could turn him in for his thoughts and seeming plan to release his friend.

A friend…Kael did not think he could handle losing Trixie, who was his only friend and his only companion. Reuenthal spoke to the fact he had seemingly no-one else other than the imprisoned man, and so the fact that he was taken and was in trouble was undoubtedly driving this otherwise calm and rational man to risky behavior.

On these thoughts and merits alone Kael was personally decided on the issue. He would help if he could, though he was not yet sure if he could. He would consult with Trixie later on the issue, but he personally wanted to help release this man if at all possible.

“Captain Reuenthal, I take you for someone who would prefer honesty over deceit. May I speak candidly with you?”

“Of course, your Majesty.”

Trixie shot a nervous look, though she did not speak. Was he going to possibly reveal their vulnerable status as amnesiac, beginner Mages? Would Reuenthal care about their current status? Would it drive him away?

Kael touched his partner’s arm in an attempt to calm her, despite going along the path she feared, “I am suffering from amnesia currently. Despite this, I cannot deny who it seems I am. How I wound up in this place, I do not know, but it sounds as if there is someone who is taking my name in the region known as Outland and disgracing it.”

Reuenthal revealed no emotional response to this, though he did nod, “I had figured that something was keeping you from just walking up to Lord Regent Lor’themar Theron and taking your place as rightful ruler.”

The man smiled briefly before shaking his head and looking back to Kael and Trixie.

“Do not worry. I can and will keep your secret. If you help me free my friend, I will forever be indebted to you, as will he.”

Eternal loyalty could be quite useful, so Kael thought of it as quite just compensation for breaking laws, “I have another question.”

Earlier, Trixie had said she didn’t want to be in Silvermoon anymore. They had been excited when they first arrived, but afterwards…

It was dystopian, even if it was polished on top. Everything had the illusion of being great, even though things were bad. If so many issues cropped up at the first glance of the city, what other dark secrets was it hiding? Just what atrocities are those in charge of it doing?

Kael narrowed his own eyes as he gave a qualifying test to the man before him, testing to see whether or not this was someone he could use against the administration at a later time when it was convenient to do so, “What do you think of the current state of affairs in Silvermoon?”

The man’s response took a moment, as if he was carefully mulling over his words before he finally spoke up, “Silvermoon City is a place of unmatched arcane progress and the height of what we would call civilization in terms of structure, design, and potential.”

He let out a small, amused snort as he finished, indicating that he found something funny about what he said even if his face remained stoic. As such Kael decided to let the man continue, as he obviously had more to say.

Reuenthal gestured to the doorway, which was in the same direction as Silvermoon City, “This greatness is marred by the decadence of our court. Noble rank is abused by those who have it, and those who do not are tread upon like dirt. The officials take every action they commit as a necessary one for the survival of our people even if said actions are horribly misguided. While some control is to be expected by any government, especially in times of strife, it is inexcusable how the populace is not even allowed to think for itself at this point. Lastly, the hedonism we are prone to is causing us to waste time and resources on useless expenditures when we still are in dire need for supplies and materials on the frontlines.”

Egotistical and wanting to remain relevant, Trixie spoke up again even though this conversation was mainly between Kael and the man who had sought him out for aid, “And what do you think of the manner in which some are baselessly criticizing your prince?”

“If I am to be honest, I would be imprisoned as well had the situation not been ended so swiftly. I was just about to enter the fight when Mitter’meyer, my friend, was subdued,” Reuenthal explained, his voice almost bored in how routine this occurrence sounded for him to report. Had he possibly fought for the honor of his prince in the past along with his friend?

That answer pleased Trixie though, who was not happy with how everyone seemed to believe her companion to be some monster. Or at least look like the person they believed to be a monster, who in fact she believed he really was.

“Well Kael?”

Kael nodded to Trixie and then turned to face Reuenthal with a smile, fully willing to partake in this endeavor even if there were possible repercussions. The idea of a jailbreak sounded fun, in addition to just in this instance, “I would like to hear more about your plan for releasing him, but I have no objection to the action itself. After seeing what the officials are capable of in the city, I have no love for them and would like to reverse some of their justice. My only worry is that my companion and I will be unable to lend great strength to the cause.”

Reuenthal shook his head no before offering a more genuine smile, although for the stoic man this amounted to the small turning up of the lips, “Strength is not necessary in this occasion. I have researched the location he is being held, and it is actually guarded by very few. Among those guards there is only one senior officer, and in total there are only three men there besides the prisoner.”

“Why is the security force so lax?” Trixie balked, having previously worried that perhaps this would be difficult. With a one-to-one ratio though she was fully confident they could pull their weight, especially since they had someone who was reportedly a Captain with them.

“Basic logistics. Forces cannot be wasted looking after a prisoner whose honor is well known in the area when they can be used to combat the undead Scourge that plagues the land. Mitter’meyer’s sense of honor and duty brought him to blows with those officials, but it is also what is keeping him from freeing himself,” Reuenthal noted, his smile fading.

Trixie grinned smugly, amused by his seeming disapproval for his friend’s scrupulousness, “I take it you are not so honor bound then?”

Reuenthal turned to her and engaged eye contact for the first time, “Honor is a useful tool for some to manipulate others with, but I must admit I have my own moral code not unlike Mitter’meyer. If I was accused of a crime I had committed I would not hide from the accusation. If, like in this instance, the accusation had some flaw, or was false, I would combat it to my dying breath. It would ruin my pride to do otherwise.”

Kael nodded, actually agreeing with the viewpoint given. The idea of being accused of something wrongfully did not sit right with the man, even if he was otherwise gentle and flippant, “Three guards, which means there is one for each of us. How will your friend be safe after he is freed though? I find it hard to believe that he will be safe after escaping from imprisonment.”

The Captain brought his hand down to a small bag hanging at his side off a belt and began to rummage through it with his unarmored hand, “I have made arrangements to publicize anonymously their treatment of a valued Captain. While they brainwash some, they cannot maintain a hold on every citizen’s mental activity, especially not all at once. They know that if they would further pursue this issue that they would bring undue criticism to themselves as rumors permeated throughout the land. Rank and status is paramount to our culture, so they will not blemish themselves further.”

Ironically, the thing that caused this whole debacle also would aid in the solution, which brought a smile to Trixie’s face, “In this instance it seems that rumors are a positive thing.”

“It all depends on how they are used,” came the cool response of Reuenthal, who again turned his attention to Kael. While not being rude in any spoken manner, he seemed to not give Trixie the same respect as the man he called his prince. The reason for this was not known to either Trixie or Kael, but they could ignore the seeming coldness in favor of his other traits. Even the prideful Trixie did not want to call him out on his behavior, since she was beginning to get the feeling he didn’t like women very much after what his mother did. Perhaps at a later time she could ask him about it, but in their first meeting she did not want to impose.

Finally having found what he was looking for in his pocket, Reuenthal removed a vial with clear liquid in it to display to his cohorts, “To prevent repercussions on either of your behalves, I have also procured a potion to apply to the soldiers we dispatch. It will relieve them of their memories from the day, and make the culprits of this crime unknown.”

“Is there anyone else who is willing to assist us?” Kael asked, all the while reaching for Trixie’s hand to squeeze. This was a serious matter, and he had a feeling that the boastful woman was feeling nervous. Kael could not recall if it was called an inferiority superiority complex or superiority inferiority complex, but she seemed to act tough and grand to hide her inner state of being, and he wanted to comfort her nerves however he could.

In response to the question Reuenthal hung his head gently and shook it slowly, seeming sorrowful over his given response, “Given our current political climate, I have not had the luxury of testing those waters. I figured though that I would be able to gain the aid of the man whose honor my friend was defending though. We did not meet in person before even when I served under you, but I have long heard of your sense of duty and loyalty to your people and seen it demonstrated in your actions.”

Kael shrugged as he realized someone just gave him the archetype of person he should probably aim to be, since that apparently was who he was, “At least someone knows how I am supposed to be,” with that Kael stood up and held his hand out across the table for the man, “We’ll help you.”

Trixie stood up as well, only to cross her arms instead of offer her hand, “Trixie can decide whether or not she will help on her own.”

As Reuenthal took Kael’s hand, the latter rolled his eyes at her stubbornness and pride. Could she ever make anything simple and easy for them? “Will you aid him in saving his friend?”

Trixie closed her eyes and turned partially away from them, including turning her head just to be dramatic, “Of course I will, Trixie is not heartless.”

The confused look on the Captain’s raven haired head appeared to be the most genuine of the night, with the man seeming to not understand Trixie’s idiosyncrasies. Kael laughed as he shook hands with the man, glad to have someone to share this with for once.

“Don’t mind her. She’s…eccentric.”

The plan was decided that later in the day, when it was completely dark out, the group would go to the location where Mitter’meyer was being held. It was at an open building in the forest nearby Silvermoon, starting right across from its gate and ending farther than the eye could see. This area, known as Eversong Woods, was known for having wild animals attack travelers, but Reuenthal granted Trixie and Kael a map to traverse the area’s basic roads so as to not travel too far into the woods.

Also provided were details on the patrols of local guards searching for enemies who would creep on Silvermoon in the night, which gave Trixie and Kael a good way to avoid conflict on the way to the destination marked on their map. The map was actually one of the whole continent, but Trixie and Kael kept the giant map folded up to only display the region they were in, which was the top of the continent.

Once at the location they would systematically confront the guards and do whatever necessary to render them unconscious before freeing the prisoner. Given the lack of security it would seemingly be a simple operation, and Trixie actually felt a little excited about it. The idea of acting in rebellion and saving a noble man who fought for his prince only to be wrongfully imprisoned made her quite giddy, as it would be a great story to tell later. Something she could perhaps use if she were to perform for an audience, which was something she was beginning to want to do more and more with each passing second.

On the other hand, what was not effecting her every second was the supposed magic addiction she had displayed earlier. Trixie did not know how to explain it, but she didn’t feel any signs of withdrawal, but she was not going to complain either so long as it continued.

Still, as Trixie and Kael both lounged about their room in wait for the “prison” break, Trixie could not help but feel slightly unnerved by their new ally. He seemed honest, and his cause was definitely genuine with how tense he had grown, but Trixie still could not help but feel uneasy.

Was it his eyes? His cold personality? While not seemingly a bad man, Reuenthal did not seem to be the most welcoming of personalities. This Mitter’meyer must be quite the good man to befriend such a fellow, who seemed otherwise unapproachable on a personal level.

Trixie had ordered as much alcohol as she could afford with her portion of their earnings, fully intending to lift as much money as she could off the guards that night. They were working willingly for people who were doing something wrong, so they would be punished, though not hurt in any permanent fashion. Perhaps they were only serving to support and protect their families after all, and Trixie could not fault them for that.

Despite drinking down enough alcohol to knock a grown man out, Trixie could barely feel anything at all. Her constitution for such things appeared far greater than an Elf really should have, but she was not about to complain. She was quite enjoying wine, actually.

With her final glass in hand, Trixie decided to voice some of her mind to the man standing across the room, “Do you think we can trust him?”

When she asked him, Kael was reading his spellbook, having spent the time since Reuenthal’s departure reading up in comparison to Trixie’s more leisurely activities.

“If he intended to betray us, he could have easily taken us by force or brought forces with him to apprehend us,” Kael looked up from his tome at Trixie, who had just finished her wine and was wiping some from her lips. Something about this all resonated with him positively, as Kael knew how desperate he would be if Trixie were taken from him, “I think he is a man who has had his only friend taken from him and he knows no-one who can help him save the man, only to come across by chance someone who he believes to be trustworthy based on previous reputation.”

To that Trixie had no real counter argument. Reuenthal really had nothing to gain by lying to them, and he possibly had a lot to gain by turning them in. Instead he approached them alone and confronted them while revealing himself to be honest. He could possibly be the tool of someone else, Trixie reckoned, but the man’s mannerisms and speech indicated he was not some simple pawn.

To further his case on why he trusted the man Kael explored the theoretical mentality of the Captain, “Besides, if he believed the rumors about me, he would be the kind who would be more supportive of this regime. Instead, he likely thinks me here on some secret business, which would imply I do not want anyone to know I am here despite technically being the lord. That then implies I am actively avoiding those in charge, who are currently known to be spreading rumors about my loyalties.”

Trixie sighed before shrugging and getting up from the table, idly placing the wine glass down while stretching her lithe limbs out, “I suppose that I will do this as a favor to you, to pay you back for helping me in my tasks earlier.”

“Think though, earning the loyalty of two members of Silvermoon with some rank behind them can be quite useful. I mean, you were the one who was speaking of treason. We will need allies to do that.”

There was no natural light that lit the room, so by blowing out the candles one could make it appear like it was nighttime. Since they would need to be up late that night, Trixie decided to get some sleep while she could and so she stumbled over to the bed they shared, “Yeah, yeah. It ruffles my fur that these jerks in the city are so downright authoritarian. Forcing people to think their way, threatening them with giant robots…”

Kael placed his book down and blew out the candles nearby him as Trixie did the same on her way to bed. He couldn’t read in the dark after all, or at least do so as well, “You do know that, as a supposed Prince, I am an authoritarian figure as well?”

Once on the bed, Trixie happily chirped back, “Benevolent dictatorship. Something that’s slipping my mind says I am used to those, and in favor of them.”

“Just about every nation I can think of on Azeroth is a Kingdom or something of the sort, so that is not that surprising.”

“You had better not become some tyrant. Though, I suppose if you do I can always go on another epic quest and defeat you,” Trixie warned at first, before it became a fit of laughter.

Kael took his side of the bed and blew out the last light while letting a laugh escape his own mouth, as he really didn’t think things would come to that dramatic conclusion, “I’m doing this right now out of obligation and a lack of direction. I highly doubt I will ever reach that point.”

“Good. Now, let us get some rest while we can. He will be back in the middle of the night, will he not?”

Kael realized in the darkness that in the brief time he took to get to the bed that Trixie had stripped herself of the clothing she seemed to think extraneous, namely everything but her underwear, and the Elf groaned. Did she come from a culture that did not have the same modesty standards? He could think of no other reason for her exposure, though no matter the cause it still made him uncomfortable.

In a veiled attempt to get her to put her clothes back on so he wouldn’t have to sleep next to her bare skin, Kael decided to address another issue, “Aren’t you cold?”

Trixie gestured to their shared blanket while pulling it to be mostly over her rather than him, “That’s what the blanket is for. What? It’s not as if Trixie just likes feeling fuzzy things…”

Kael was right before. Eccentric was definitely the word for her

Well, that or insane. Kael would rather she be considered the former, as it would say a lot about him if his only friend was an insane woman who seemed to have the mentality of an animal on occasion.

Later that night in the Eversong was a much less comfortable Elf in a far less friendly situation.

“Why are you not eating? Afraid of being poisoned?”

A blonde man in a set of black dress clothing sat in his designated jail cell, which in reality was just a large open building of the same architecture found all around the area, especially those in Sunstrider Isle. The circular building had no real door and was completely open, even with the two guards posted outside. Inside the singular room was an assortment of things that would make it appear well furnished and hospitable.

In reality it was anything but. It was the place of an illegitimate sentencing and imprisonment, and if not for the man’s sense of right and wrong he would just walk out.

The guards had brought Mitter’meyer food multiple times, but each of them was met with no response. The food was later shared amongst the guards, but the fact was that a few days had gone by. Mitter’meyer was needed alive for when he was to be executed, so letting him die of malnourishment was something the guard leader was worried about. It would reflect poorly upon him if the prisoner died before those who wished to handle him had their chance after all.

Sitting quietly in the corner on the floor, willingly refusing to take a seat in the provided chairs and the like, was Mitter’meyer. His food remained on the table across the room, and he had not moved to touch it at all. He was handcuffed, but he was capable of walking around.

The blonde captive shook his head, “I am not that weak hearted, and I know they wouldn’t go to all of this trouble just to poison me. They could do that in court without anyone being any wiser, all they would have to do is blame it on some suspected rebels or the Humans.”

The guard narrowed his eyes at Mitter’meyer while picking the tray of food up, not understanding then what was the man’s issue, “Then why are you leaving your meal untouched?”

Mitter’meyer smiled to himself, not even looking up at the man whose duty was to keep him there.

“If I got fat, my wife would hate me.”

The man looked over Mitter’meyer and found the idea preposterous, even though Mitter’meyer was quite stocky for an Elf as well as slightly below average in height. This only was really noticeable when placed next to his friend Reuenthal though, who’s above average height for an Elf and wide but thin frame opposed his friend’s more blocky one.

With nothing more to say, the guard left Mitter’meyer to his solitude. There was only one entrance to the structure, and there was no real threat to be faced. After all, who would dare oppose the nobles and leaders who imprisoned him to begin with?

Once alone Mitter’meyer sighed to himself, opening his eyes as he considered the possibility of seeing his loving wife again. He fully intended to, but that would hinge on the actions of his friend.

“Since Reuenthal told me to leave it to him, I have no doubt he’s making his best possible effort to get me out of here.”

Still, the work of a single Captain might not be enough…at least, Mitter’meyer worried that much.

“But…”

Someone entering through the drapes that served as the only kind of “door” to the structure stopped Mitter’meyer from finishing his thought. The man who entered was wearing red and black cloth robes and had orange-red hair, and was in fact the same man who earlier that day quelled the public rally that Kael and Trixie witnessed and where Reuenthal had noticed the two.

The man entering approached Mitter’meyer before bowing to the man, a mocking smirk on the clothed man’s face, “How do you do, Captain Mitter’meyer? I am Priest Kath’mar. Normally, I interrogate and turn those who commit the crime of lese majesty.”

Mitter’meyer remained stoic, simply staring at the Priest with contempt.

In an act of perceived superiority, the Priest leaned over Mitter’meyer and looked down at the sitting man, “And when I say interrogate, I mean things like flaying someone's mind, and the ever lovely turning them against their friends and family. I serve our beloved country with such skills, just as I’m sure you once served with your own.”

The lack of response was a continued effort on Mitter’meyer’s part to not give this man any satisfaction. As a Paladin, Mitter’meyer knew of the Light that granted him strength, the same Light that powered Priests and their abilities…which included the mentioned mind control and mind flaying, things only the less savory Priests would ever resort to. Usually sadists.

To further prove himself to be the latter, Kath’mar stood back up while laughing darkly at the prisoner before him, “Now, of course, I pride myself upon such skills as a type of art. There are many people who value such an art, and there are many occasions where I'm asked to demonstrate my skills in places other than in my employment.”

The Priest brought a hand to stroke Mitter’meyer’s face, only to then pat him on the cheek and take a step back, “So many people these days who need some good, old mind alteration. What’s a Priest to do but oblige his superiors and correct society of its blemishes?”

“Serve the Light and not anyone who would subvert it?” Mitter’meyer snarked back, not caring about what the ignoble Priest may do in retaliation. He could whether some pain for the sake of his own pride.

The Priest did not seem wholly offended, rather appearing amused by the quip, “Coming from a Paladin of the Blood Knights? Those who are stealing the power of the Light from a being who was captured by Sunstrider instead of actually adhering to its tenants and rules?”

Mitter’meyer lowered his head and closed his eyes. After a moment he laughed softly to himself, amused by something the Priest said.

“You really should call him by his first name…”

Kath’mar snorted, “Oh? What part? The Kael or the thas?”

Mitter’meyer looked back up and glared at the man with fury, “You meant to say ‘Lord’. He is the superior of each of us, and I will not hear you disgrace him by referring to him so disrespectfully!”

With that outburst he incited the fury of the Priest, and the session of “interrogation” began.

Author's Note

Introducing canon foreigners! Since so many characters in World of Warcraft are referenced to existing characters, and so many players emulate characters with their own playable ones, I am keeping with established tradition and doing so here!

Thanks for reading, and I hope that I can hear your thoughts in the comments below! Comments are :heart: after all!

Level 7: The Gale Wolf and The Cunning Eagle

A/N: Please comment this time...it was sad last chapter when barely anyone did, and those who did were talking to eachother and not even about the chapter. It's hard to write when it seems no-one cares, so please comment this time(and in the future)!

Priest Kath’mar was none too pleased by the words and tone of his prisoner, who was supposed to be crying and whining like all others had in the man’s experience. However, to keep from making the man a vegetable too soon, Kath’mar decided to respond in a manner not involving the mind.

Kath’mar summoned a shadowy tendril from his hand and whipped it out at Mitter’meyer, who let the shadowy force strike him. The Knight could weather some pain, and he had no desire to make matters worse for himself by retaliating.

“You think you are so much better than us, don’t you?” Kath’mar lashed out again as he snarled venomously, “Well where’s the honor of a Paladin who’s forsaken their vows for their prince? How are you any better, you punk?”

Mitter’meyer did not even grunt as he was struck again, simply accepting the pain as the ethereal whip struck through him and inflicted a pain few were able to withstand.

Seeing the stern, kept face of Mitter’meyer made the Priest actually smile. This wasn’t going to be quite as easy as it often was, and a challenge was most welcome after countless whiners, “You know, for someone with my hobby, someone with high social status is the most desirable material. People who usually act snobbishly cry and shout in front of me begging for mercy,” he tilted his head back to let out a sinister cackle, “To watch such a sight is the most fun of all.”

The fact that this man was supposedly a servant of the Light which guided the Paladins and Priests of Azeroth made Mitter’meyer want to spit in disgust. If the man had been under his command he would have his sadism punished with harsh discipline and a possible execution if he continued to dishonor the entirety of their species with such cruelty.

For now though, he continued to bite his tongue and wait. Reuenthal had said he would come, and Mitter’meyer did not want to be the agent behind his own escape. He was being punished for something he did do after all, even if things were only escalated due to the status of those he throttled in retribution for their words. If he was to be freed, he would allow it, but to have agency in that release would mean turning his back on some of his vows and loyalty to the laws he was sword to protect. Even if his foes would ignore them, he would not stoop to such a level.

Reuenthal, the more pragmatic of the friends, would be just fine with breaking a rule in these extenuating circumstances, a fact Mitter’meyer was also fine with. After all, Reuenthal’s act of rebellion would negate the actions done against Mitter’meyer, and there was no dishonor in being freed by a noble friend.

It made sense to Mitter’meyer, even if it might not to an outsider not familiar with his code and honor, and that’s what mattered. He knew he could free himself and beat the guards into the ground if he so pleased, since a Knight was more capable than normal guards.

Realizing that he had lost the attention of Mitter’meyer, Kath’mar lashed out with his shadowy tendril again. As the summoned weapon of sorts hit its mark the Priest smirked smugly, pleased by the marking it made across Mitter’meyer’s cheek, “From that perspective, someone who became a Lieutenant in the Farstriders, and then gained a Knighthood in the Blood Knights, by the age of twenty two despite coming from a common background can be said to be even better mind bending material.”

Mitter’meyer looked back up to the man, only keeping himself calm by imagining what he wanted to do to the Priest. A smack of the hammer to the man’s clean teeth would be quite nice, and some nice strangulation would be good payment for the coming torture.

The Priest reached back to prepare a larger strike against Mitter’meyer, his voice turning back to a growl as he brought the whip forward, “So, crawl and beg for forgiveness!”

The lash was one of a flurry this time, with Kath’mar striking repeatedly again and again. Mitter’meyer did not yield however, and while excruciatingly painful he managed to survive through the pain by clenching his teeth and scowling. It couldn’t last forever, not with how skinny the man was. He would have to get tired of swinging his arm sometime…though when his arm tired, he would likely resort to mental torture, so it wasn’t much of a reprieve.

When the Priest’s attack finally slowed after a minute or so, he ended it smiling. The prisoner was still not reacting to the pain with anything more than the slightest grunt. Silvermoon certainly had trained its Paladins quite well, “It’s impressive that you haven’t shrieked yet. You’re quite different from those spoiled, aristocrat boys,” Kath’mar leaned in to smugly look down at his prey, “But that makes this even more fun.”

Mitter’meyer resisted the urge to spit on the very close man’s face, and instead continued to just sit where he was on the floor. The man certainly seemed…enthused with his so called hobby, and Mitter’meyer found himself wondering why Silvemoon would ever employ such sadists. Were there others like him, or was this some abnormality? If there were others, they would need to be dealt with upon his return.

“When will such a young prodigy finally lose his self-respect and scream for mercy?” Kath’mar taunted as he prepared himself for another assault. It was easiest to bend someone’s mind when their body was too weakened to resist, and he doubted this Paladin could resist the touch of darkness forever against his body. The opposing force to the Light they used, it would be quite pleasurable to see a Paladin fall to its power.

“What a garrulous guy…” Mitter’meyer whispered to himself, annoyed almost as much by Kath’mar’s need to talk as by the physical strikes.

Reuenthal had better come soon. Even someone as disciplined and tough as Mitter’meyer would be unable to survive unrestrained torture forever, at least not without some irreparable damage.

Following the instructions given to them by the extremely prepared and thoughtful Reuenthal, who seemed quite capable in his organizational skills given the thought and detail put into the plans given to the two. Exact specifications on the patrol paths of guards, their shift changes, and even the details concerning the specific details of each man on the guard force were included.

For example, the guard on the right side of the nightly patrol by Silvermoon City had a habit of checking everything and every movement around him in an almost paranoid fashion because of a time he had been attacked by a young human bandit who for some reason had been in the region, while the one to his left would often deride his companion for his seeming paranoia as well as for being beaten up by a little girl, and so he was often less perceptive as he spoke and did not want to appear as high maintenance as the other man.

The map was easy to follow, especially because the trees were widely spaced apart for the most part, with each of them being quite tall and thick. At night they hid the ground from most of the stars, though enough moonlight passed through to grant visibility in the forest.

On the guard staff of the target outpost were some veteran members of the force, although veteran did not mean skilled. While each had a long service, none of them were particularly distinguished, which made their reassignment easier to the place where no guards should rationally be assigned on any official matter.

It was a simple manner of timing to avoid the guards patrolling through the forest given their sparse number, since only three teams of two men each were out. Reuenthal had not been wrong about the light amount of personnel, though in this one instance it was a positive factor in Blood Elf life. Should an outside foe attack though, Silvermoon would likely fold and collapse given any prolonged period of combat.

The outpost was not too far into the forest, and Trixie considered herself lucky to have not run into animals on the way. Perhaps they were all asleep? She wanted to balk at the idea, but even she realized it would appear odd to her companion if she just balked out of nowhere seeing as the thought process was entirely in her head.

The building Mitter’meyer was being kept in was of the exact same model of the one Trixie had woke up beside in her first moments of consciousness. A series of the large trees surrounded it, though none were too close to the structure itself, meaning the hardest part would be approaching it. For the meantime though, three guards stood outside with no seeming worry. Their shoulders were slack, they were not pacing around, and they were stationed just beside the building.

As Trixie continued to study them, she felt a rush of adrenaline. This felt like she was some super secret agent, and she was loving it.

“This feels so awesome,” she whispered to herself as she continued to survey the landscape for anything that could possibly ruin things.

Beside her, Kael was less amused by it all but found himself at leased amused by her amusement, “I can’t say I’m an expert, but isn’t part of being stealthy not talking?”

Realizing that he was right, Trixie spoke back in a hushed voice while frowning, “Yeah, yeah, yeah…”

Luckily for them, the assigned time of meeting was perfect and according to Reuenthal’s plan. None of the normal patrols were even in this section of the forest, and they wouldn’t be back for the longest time of the night according to the precise calculations made by Reuenthal concerning their average patrol times and the standard deviation from those.

Kael nudged Trixie as he noticed that their partner in crime was behind the closest tree to their right, which was in turn halfway past the building’s façade in terms of the buildings length. Their own was just behind the façade, which meant that the backs of the red armored guards were turned to them but only just barely.

What caught Trixie’s attention about the man was not the odd object she had never seen before in his hand, but the large bird on the branch above him. It too was looking at the guards, and Trixie realized that this was likely the extra aid Reuenthal had mentioned he was bringing.

“He’s got a bird? Please don’t tell me he’s a Huntard too…” Trixie whispered to herself, only to realize that Reuenthal had just pointed to a faraway tree. The large black colored bird, seemingly a hawk though Trixie was no expert, flew across to the other tree in a swift movement just beneath the thick and long branches of all the overlapping giant trees of the region, which formed a canopy of sorts.

The bird let out a squawk as it took its perch on the new tree, drawing the attention of the otherwise dull guards briefly. Upon seeing its source and noticing that it was just a large bird of prey they turned back to looking idly at the ground and moving from foot to foot to stay awake. If they had been regular visitors of the forest and not city guards assigned to the outside area they may have known that such birds were extremely rare in the region, but their lack of background knowledge prevented them from realizing this.

Another thing Reuenthal had included in his mission briefing, though Trixie had honestly skipped the last couple pages. Perhaps he had mentioned the bird specifically there?

Embarassed instead of confused, Kael realized that perhaps he should have read a little more before heading out. He had trouble sleeping at first because of his companion’s inability to grasp basic decency, and that meant it took longer than expected to sleep. Perhaps he would have to factor this into future plans of sleep, so as to not miss out on important things, since he doubted Trixie would change: either in her comprehension of clothing or in the literal sense of changing into real clothes or at least basic pajamas.

In the time the bird had distracted the guards and the two prowling adventurers chastised themselves over their lack of foresight on the bird’s aid, Reuenthal had already joined them behind their own large tree. There was more than enough room for them all to hide comfortably, even with his larger size, and he wasted no time before whispering to them.

“It appears as if the situation has become more complicated.”

He was smiling slightly as he pointed to the ground in front of the building, about three hundred meters of so from it, and there stood an approaching group of three Elves. They all wore fine robes that appeared a tad bit too luxurious instead of the red and golden armor of the guards, signaling them to not be an unaccounted for patrol, but that did not make their slow approach of the building any less disconcerting.

“Why does he only smile when talking about things that are negative?” Trixie whispered extremely quietly to Kael, who just shrugged as he tried seeing if he could recognize any of the men who were approaching the building. If they were extremely perceptive beings they might have been able to see the three occasional heads poking out to observe them, but they were all chatting with one another in jovial tones which displayed that their attention was with eachother and not elsewhere.

“We will still do things as planned,” Reuenthal whispered as he gripped the L shaped object in his hand that Trixie had no knowledge about. What was it? It was made of metal, and had a single hole at one end, and a place to grip the shorter edge of the L. Perhaps she would see him use it?

“Who are they?” Trixie whispered to the one in charge of the operation, who in turn ironically considered the amnesiac Kael his superior despite being the only knowledgeable one in the group.

“Some of the nobles Mitter’meyer has angered through his outburst,” Reuenthal explained as he reached his spare hand into his pocket to reveal multiple vials of the mind altering liquid he showed before, “I am fortunate to have brought just enough amnesia medicine for over twice the initial amount subjects.”

Kael smiled down at the sight, pleased that he had such a competent person working under him. Someone who came prepared was better than someone who just did the bare minimum of work after all, “Not fortunate. Smart. Good work.”

Reuenthal accepted the praise with a quiet bow of the head before returning to scouting the situation. The nobles had reached the building and were just entering through the shroud that served as a door, which had the guards turn their attention inward and away from the outside as they saluted their employers.

Reuenthal motioned to go in, since they would have no better time to implement their plan than when the enemies were focused on the new arrivals solely, “Now remember, when you attack try to be as quiet as possible. Alerting those inside could negatively impact Mitter’meyer’s health.”

Instead of sneaking right on up to the guards, the group instead moved to the back section of the circular building’s wall and pressed close to it, completely out of sight from their enemies. This done, Trixie and Kael were to move around one side of the building while Reuenthal made the opposite movement and approach from the opposite side. Since the guards were stationed in a V pointing outwards from the entrance, the three seeking to subdue them would attack all three simultaneously. With three of them and three guards, they should be able to handle them all in one way or another in rapid succession.

Trixie and Kael crept around to the part of the building where they still were out of sight technically, but could be seen should the guards turn around given the circular nature of the outpost. Once there, Trixie prepared to use her basic frost ability while Kael mimicked the spell. It was basic enough that even though he hadn’t practiced it at all he could replicate it, especially since he had assisted Trixie in first learning it.

Once each of them was ready, the squawk of the strategically placed bird given its view of both parties signaled that it was time. Trixie rushed forward just as the guards looked up towards the bird, once again having their attention drawn to the only interesting thing to have really happened that night outside of the nobles coming by.

Trixie grabbed the guard closest to her by the back of the skull, the icy palm of hers causing him to gasp as he quickly had his neck and lower head frozen over with a sheet of ice. Kael mimicked this action on the next man, though the man had turned around just in time to be grabbed by the mouth. His mouth still froze over to keep him from yelling, but he managed to kick his assaulter back with an armored boot. While Trixie managed to completely freeze the upper body of her guard enough so he could not move, Kael’s attempted to grip his face and tear the ice away.

Instead, just as his hand reached his face he fell slackly onto his knees, only to be caught by Reuenthal to prevent the man’s armor from creating to much noise. Kael rubbed his gut where he had been hit hard, but Trixie looked in wonder at the last guard as he lay on the ground quietly. How had Reuenthal taken him out?

Trixie looked down to see that their partner was still holding his unknown metal object, and then another look at the guard Reuenthal was supposed to subdue revealed a dart in the man’s neck. The one Kael had been fighting as well had a dart on him too, once again in the neck, revealing some stellar aiming on the part of the half-Elf.

Trixie blew a kiss to the ice figurine before her to mock the man, before whispering as softly as she could, “Sweet dreams.”

With their opponents dispatched, it was time to go inside. Once inside they had no idea on how the situation would be, so they would have to improvise now that the nobles had come by. The three approached the front of the building and moved to go up its short ramp only to hear the crack of ice behind them.

Trixie turned around and watched with aggravation as her targeted guard began to move away from them despite his frozen upper body. Perhaps she should have frozen him more, but the ice usually concentrated into a thin sheet instead only had managed to cover half of him. At least he couldn’t scream for help.

The man had managed to stumble enough away that going to get him would take further time out of their plan, so Reuenthal snapped his fingers and pointed at him.

“Tristan, fetch.”

The bird rushed down from its perch on the tree and grabbed the man fiercely by the shoulders without making a noise, at which point the guard was hit in a sweet spot where Trixie’s thin ice had melted and broken off him. Trixie actually managed to see Reuenthal use the weapon in his hand, with him pulling a trigger and then seeing the result of the man dropping to the ground as the dart’s seeming poison taking effect.

The fact that he upstaged them both in some way made Trixie want to gape in awe, only recovering some of her pride based on the fact that he couldn’t have possibly gotten all three of them at once so she and Kael still contributed in some fashion. The stoic man wielding the unknown weapon placed it in a holster at his side before turning to see the stunned expressions on both the others’ faces. Had they never seen a marksman before?

Reuenthal bowed to the other two, partially sorry for stealing their chance at gaining experience while also knowing that he only did what was necessary. He was at a higher level of combat expertise than them currently, and so while he could do things easier than them it meant that it could make them look bad in comparison, “Do not worry. I am sure that, with time, you will surpass my meager abilities.”

Kael shook his head, actually appreciating the display. Reuenthal was an allied example that there was much room for growth in terms of skill, and Kael would rather see a skilled partner than a skilled enemy. At least this way he was in awe, not quivering in fear in realization that he wasn’t good enough, “It is just good to realize that there are others with far greater capabilities than us currently.”

Trixie looked away from them both and crossed her arms as she grumbled, “I’m gonna read that whole book tomorrow.”

Reuenthal moved to enter the building again, once again focused on their mission, while Kael patted Trixie patronizingly on the shoulder, “You mean today, friend.”

“Be quiet, mister stealth means quiet.”

While the others had been implementing their plan outside, Mitter’meyer had to continue to deal with his demented torturer. If he had been in a more relaxed state he may have heard the squawk of Tristan, but he would miss out on it as he instead continued to deal with the sadistic Priest.

“I told you to crawl and cry, you damn traitor!” Rath’mar yelled angrily, bringing his whip back again for the hardest strike he would yet give. However, Mitter’meyer had been brought to the boiling point by the accusation of being a traitor, and so this attack missed.

Rath’mar realized a moment too late that his strike hit the wall and floor instead of the black clothed Paladin, with Mitter’meyer having shifted on the floor to kick out across the ground.

This kick caught Rath’mar in the leg and caused him to stumble forward while Mitter’meyer jumped to his own feet. By falling over Rath’mar ended up landing on his own summoned tendril of darkness, and when it touched his body he howled in pain. What had not effected the stalwart Mitter’meyer instead made the Priest shriek nonstop until he managed to unsummon the tendril.

“That fighting was quite fitting for a lowly commoner…”

Now on his feet, Mitter’meyer turned to see that he had three new visitors. Two were officials he had physically struck, with the third being one of their circle of friends who also happened to be a noble born Elf. The only one he really knew was a member of the Magisters, the last and oldest main political faction of their society after the Blood Knights and Farstriders, by the name of Jaronis.

Jaronis was the one who had spoken, and he continued to do so after he and the other two entered the room, “It seems you're being given preferential treatment, Blood Knight Mitter'Meyer.”

Magisters were users of arcane magic, which Mitter’meyer was not particularly trained in resisting, so he quickly realized this was not a favorable situation for him. He had acted in anger in attacking the Priest, but to continue his disobedience would not be a good thing for him now that he was outnumbered by so many spellcasters.

“Traitors to our race deserve more of this preferential treatment, do they not?” the Magister added, his long blonde hair sweeping over his shoulder as he turned to look at his companions who merely nodded agreeably at him.

There it was again. Mitter’meyer grew a smirk as he realized what he was about to do and say, and he realized with some grief that he was smiling at his own misfortune like his best friend tended to.

“Don't speak the Elven language when you're but mere pigs. We petty Elves might blush with embarrassment, you know?” Mitter’meyer taunted, his face still smug as he closed his eyes and tried to picture his wife’s face. He might not see her again because of his words, but his pride and honor would not allow him to back down from such scoundrels even in the verbal arena.

“You...” Jaronis growled, quickly moving to punch Mitter’meyer for his insult.

This punch was deftly avoided by the trained soldier who opened his eyes just as he heard the pig speak. This in turn allowed Mitter’meyer to move around his foe entirely and let him careen into the wall in his angry rush, disgracing the Mage in his attempt at pathetic physical combat.

Now behind his foe, Mitter’meyer was able to dodge the next strike from Jaronis as well by just stepping back away from the man as he swung around. Unfortunately for the blonde haired Paladin, the other two were waiting for him and grabbed him firmly.

While normally strong enough to possibly force his way out of such a situation, Mitter’meyer had not eaten in some time and did not have the strength after enduring the previous torture to fight off the two others.

With his opponent now held still, Jaronis paused to gather himself and regain some composure before lifting his fists up to start punching the captive in his gut, which would have normally been covered by armor but was instead just a set of dress clothes after everything Mitter’meyer had been through the past days.

After hitting Mitter’meyer’s stomach enough times to make himself winded and to make Mitter’meyer fall to his knees, Jaronis paused and tried to gather his faux composure again, “How about it? Did you learn your lesson? What befitting treatment for a commoner who doesn't know any manners.”

Mitter’meyer had punched Jaronis into unconsciousness the other day, so the Magister thought the reverse treatment was fair payment. With the added bonus of execution, which wouldn’t be investigated or cared about given the current political climate of silencing dissenters.

With a spit of blood on the man’s expensive shoes, Mitter’meyer growled even as his arms hung weakly from the hold of the two others, “Who would ‘learn their lesson’? If you have true pride, take off my handcuffs and fight it out with me on equal ground,” after no-one moved to do that, Mitter’meyer looked up at the Magister with disgust, “You must be scared. What a coward. Your ancestor's brave name will be covered with shame.

His pride trampled and his reputation tarnished amongst his circle of friends if he allowed a starved prisoner who had been tortured to act tougher than him, Jaronis was forced to accept the challenge even if he had lingering doubts about being able to subdue the man, “All right, commoner, I'll grant your wish,” he waved a hand forcefully at his companions, “Take off his handcuffs!

They obliged by taking the key from the nearby Priest, who had in turn taken it from the guards earlier. Once Mitter’meyer was freed, Jaronis smugly looked at the weakened Paladin and thought about how he was going to humiliate this brawny fellow, “There, I won't let you complain now.”

“Certainly. I won't complain. You're remarkable...”

Mitter’meyer wasted no time in charging the Magister, first slamming into him before grabbing the now stunned man with both arms. This done, he hurled Jaronis over his shoulders with all the strength he could manage.

Jaronis slammed into the ground at such a great speed that he began coughing up into the air, his back in extreme pain as he tried desperately to breath. His companions had difficulty hiding their amusement at the sight, which in turn fueled Jaronis’s anger and allowed him to fight through his pain to rise to his feet. Once upright, he charged forward to punch Mitter’meyer again, this time with a ball of fire surrounding his hand to cause real damage.

Mitter’meyer proved his natural agility by sidestepping the Magister and swinging a strong punch to the side of the man’s head, knocking Jaronis to the floor.

Infuriated by this humiliation, Jaronis grabbed his throbbing head while screaming at his companions, “Use your magic! Just kill him! Kill him now!”

“But...” the other two hesitated, knowing that the preparations were not finished in covering up this death.

“I don't care if someone complains, I've had enough of this disrespectful bastard!”

Mitter’meyer looked down at the pathetic noble before him, his eyes cold as he felt the room grow both warm and cold as the other two brought forth their magic. Truth be told, he did not have the energy to take them out as well as much as he wanted to. On a normal day he could fell each of them, but he was now fighting to just keep his eyes open.

The magic that would have killed him though never struck though, as each of the men shouted in pain as their hands were hit by something. The one who had been summoning fire now had a scorched hand as his fireball exploded in his palm just as another ball of fire struck it, while the one who had summoned ice had their lower arm encased in the alternate form of water.

From the ground, Jaronis gaped in awe at what now stood behind his fair weather friends, “You...you're....”

Kael, Trixie, and Reuenthal had all entered the building, with the former two having traces of magic usage leaving their hands. Kael smiled facetiously at the man on the floor, outwardly being polite while completely hating on the pathetic man at the same time, “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met, and if we have I must apologize. I am Prince Kael’Thas Sunstrider, and I am here to release my loyal subordinate from your custody.”

Mitter’meyer began to gape at the sight of his Prince, completely drawn away from the fact his best friend was there because the man who he had sworn his full and complete loyalty to was here to save him. This stunned reaction kept him from doing anything as his mind attempted to piece together why and how Kael’thas Sunstrider could and would be helping him.

In contrast, Jaronis shook his head, thinking himself delusional at the sight of the lord of their race, “Hah, the traitor prince is in Outland, at Magister’s Terrace from what I heard. You must be a fake!”

One of the other nobles who had come to harm the prisoner tried shushing him, “Hush you fool! What if it is him?”

Reuenthal spoke up as he lifted his metal weapon up to point at the nobles, “The subject is irrelevant, as none of you will remember this.”

In quick succession he shot the two standing nobles, with each falling to the ground as the tranquilizer darts he shot took them out. Seeing this happen to the others made Jaronis turn to face the Captain, who he recognized in the brief moment before he too was shot.

“You whore mongering bastard—”

Jaronis collapsed fully at the entry of the tranquilizer dart, with Reuenthal putting his weapon away once finished subduing the enemies in the room.

Trixie, curious about the namecalling, turned to Reuenthal to get an answer, “What was that about?”

Mitter’meyer shook himself out of his reverie to address the question that only elicited a frown from the Half-Elf, “Reuenthal has kept the company of a few ladies from court due to his handsomeness and exotic features,” Mitter’meyer laughed as he gestured down to the unconscious Jaronis, “Ladies including that one’s sister.”

Not understanding the implications of what Mitter’meyer said, Trixie tilted her head, “What were they doing that would make him so angry?”

Mitter’meyer in turn did not understand that she did not understand, instead thinking her as a practical joker. He bowed to her to show thanks for her assistance in saving him, “You have a good sense of humor, miss. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Knight Mitter’meyer of the Blood Knights.”

Trixie appreciated having someone bow before her, and so she held her hand out for him to kiss to see how far she could press this envelope, “And I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, aspiring show magician.”

Mitter’meyer respectfully kissed her hand, making Trixie realize that perhaps she was extremely fortunate for her present company. Being treated like a lady was quite nice, compared to just some random commoner!

Once his formalities were done, Mitter’meyer rose up and began beaming happily at her with a radiant smile, “Aspiring? Well then, have you tried performing in the arena? I hear crowds love seeing impressive displays of magic there.”

Trixie found the sound of this barbaric, but if it meant she could perform and be seen for the magnificent mare she was she would do it, “There’s an arena?”

Mitter’meyer nodded with joy, overestimating her skill level as he imagined what amazing performance she might be able to put on in an arena, “Of course! It’ll be my pleasure to show you it to repay you for what you have done on my behalf today.”

More conscientious of the fact that there was royalty in the room, Reuenthal vocally cleared his throat. This snapped Mitter’meyer’s attention from Trixie to Kael’thas, who actually had not wanted to really play up the fact he was a prince and all. It felt phony and fake for him to masquerade as something he wasn’t entirely sure he was, even if he was ninety nine point nine percent sure it was true.

“Oh, right!” Mitter’meyer noted as he bowed and bent down on one knee to Kael’thas, “Milord, you have my eternal gratitude. It is an honor to be visited by you, as well as protected by your divine light.”

Still not wholly comfortable but seeing that perhaps he should play along, Kael gestured to Reuenthal, “You should thank your friend. He asked for our aid, and he is the one who did the most work in freeing you.”

Reuenthal nodded to the exit, worried about the timing of this all and how by now some other patrols may be drawing close if they were on a particularly faster pace than usual, “I would suggest we leave the formalities for later, after we have drugged them, escaped, and assured our collective safety.”

Kael agreed to that, not wanting to be caught red handed and have to reveal his identity publically, since he knew not what would happen if that were the case, “Of course.”

As the others all took some of the amnesia serum from Reuenthal and began to apply it to all the immobile people, including the writhing Priest who was only half-awake, Trixie instead crossed her arms and pouted, “But I still want to know what were Reuenthal and the sister were doing together!”

They all just laughed as she continued to pout, with Mitter’meyer honestly thinking she was joking, Kael not wanting to explain the situation, and Reuenthal not feeling at liberty to discuss such a matter with a lady he barely knew.

Not that it stopped him from doing much worse things with ladies he knew far less…but it was the principle, especially since he was sensing some form of attraction from his prince towards the woman. Whether it was a friendly attraction or not, it would be ill mannered to actually answer her question, even more so than it would be to just ignore her.

Once back at the inn, the three gathered around the large table in the bottom floor with the innkeeper providing them all with refreshments to celebrate. She was familiar with Reuenthal and Mitter’meyer, with the two often coming to drink after duty at her inn instead of inside the city, which was why she assisted the former by bringing him to Kael and Trixie’s room and breaching their privacy in such a manner. After all, he was a trustworthy man, and she knew he would only mean well for the good natured couple occupying one of her rooms. With no other tenants that night and the late hour, she excused herself to bed again after their return.

Reuenthal rose his wine glass up with an uncharacteristic genuinely positive smile on his face, “A toast to our returned lord, and to the safety of a friend.”

Everyone rose their glasses to that, and after the first drink Mitter’meyer was the first to speak, “Is there anything we can do to repay your kindness, my lord?”

In fact, the entire trip Kael had been considering that very idea. What he had come up with though was the best for all of them, though not for himself specifically, since he decided to be pragmatic and not selfish in the inevitable order he was going to have to give his loyal servants.

The idea of having people serve him still felt odd to the humble man, but he decided to consider such a thing another night when he was less exhausted. It was the early hours of the morning after all, so intense philosophical reasoning was beyond him.

“I am tempted to ask you to accompany my companion and I, as you both seem to be quite capable soldiers and it would be useful to have such powerful and useful companions with us as we rise in our own power.”

Trixie and Mitter’meyer nodded to that with a smile while Reuenthal remained stoic due to his realization that there would be a continuation to the statement.

Kael shook his head with a sigh as he finished his thought, “However, that would displace you from your duties here, and I am sure my companion and I can handle things on our own for the time being.”

Thinking his lord just too humble to ask for aid, Mitter’meyer decided to explicitly offer it. He brought a hand to his chest as he pledged his grateful loyalty, “My lord, if you need us by your side you need only ask. We would each do anything for you, especially after today.”

Again Kael shook his head, further explaining his reasoning so the others could understand why he was not simply rebuffing them, “I am attempting to mask my presence currently, and having two relatively high profile people accompanying me will quickly defeat that goal. I appreciate your willingness, but having two loyal companions does not outweigh the burden it may bring upon my partner and I.”

Realizing this was not something that he could convince Kael otherwise about, Mitter’meyer bowed his head and sighed. After thinking over the reasoning used, he found himself agreeing that he would only endanger his lord, and he slowly lifted his head back up as he came to another thought left unanswered so far.

“If I may ask, my lord, what is the reason for your visit to Azeroth? How go things in Outland with Illidan and Warchief Kargath?”

Having anticipated this question, Kael offered his planned response to mask his lack of memory. While he trusted Reuenthal with this knowledge, it appeared that Reuenthal was the thoughtful one of the two, and while Mitter’meyer did not appear to be a fool Kael would rather have as few people know the truth as he could.

“I am afraid I am not at liberty to speak about those matters. For now, you will just have to trust that I am implementing a plan for the betterment of us all, and that there appears to be a man masquerading under my name and bringing ill sentiment towards it.”

Kael looked around carefully to emphasize his point, “Do not speak of this matter to anyone else, as we do not know who we can trust here now that public sentiment is turning against me.”

Mitter’meyer grew a sad expression as his lord’s words sank in, which caused Trixie to mimic it as she realized there were other bad Elves out there, “There still remain many loyal to you, my lord,” Mitter’meyer paused as his eyes closed and his head sagged downward. The idea that other Elves had forsaken their loyalty to the crown based on rumors bit harshly at the loyal Knight, “But…”

“They are being subjugated and brainwashed, as well as punished much like you were to be. I will not risk their safety by revealing myself and causing possible tension and conflict to arise,” Kael responded, finding himself realizing that perhaps he did have some experience with politics since the thoughts were flowing so freely from him.

Mitter’meyer stood up so he could bow to his prince, “You are wise as ever, my lord.”

Having been thinking this entire time about the subject matter of these men owing them loyalty and a favor of sorts, Trixie spoke up next to capitalize on it before the chance vanished, “Perhaps you two can do us a favor instead?”

Mitter’meyer stood up straight again and saluted the magician, “Whatever is it, my lady? Ask and we shall do what we can.”

Trixie winked to Kael before giving her idea, one which reflected something Kael said before which she agreed with, “One day down the road we’re going to be back, and we will need to have organized and rallied support for when that does happen. You two are relatively high ranking officials, even if you aren’t at the top, so you are not likely to be under as much scrutiny as others, right?”

Reuenthal nodded to her after wiping his lips with a napkin, having just finished his glass of wine, “After this incident blows over, I am sure we will be forgotten as just two disgruntled figures. The Blood Knights will not allow further retaliation on one of their own, and my involvement is not known.”

That affirmative response made Trixie feel all the more confident about her plan, “So, with your level of pull and your relative autonomy, can we ask that you rally support for our banner when the time comes that we return and confront the various political opponents we are sure to be faced with?”

“Of course,” Mitter’meyer responded hastily, quickly bowing before them again and partially over the table. Kael wanted to laugh at how enthusiastic this man was, but he supposed he could let it go to not embarrass him.

Mitter’meyer did not remain bowing for long, as he realized with some shock that light was beginning to peek in the inn from outside. The coming of dawn reminded him that he ought to return home, so he stood up fully to salute the others, “I would love to stay with you all, but I had best return home to my wife. Evangelin must be worried sick about me, and I would loathe to be hated by my wife.”

Standing up as well, Reuenthal shook his head as he brought a hand to his friend’s shoulder, “He jests. His wife is a kind hearted woman whose only malice is towards those who would harm her dear husband.”

Mitter’meyer actually appeared taken aback by his friend’s kind words to his wife, “Words of praise from the man who hates all women? My my, has my imprisonment and distress softened you, my friend?”

“I am merely an observer of facts. You give her too little credit, just as you give me too much. I merely distrust, something wholly different from hatred.”

Mitter’meyer shrugged as he brought a hand to run through his light hair, his face growing quite happy at the talk of his wife, “I suppose I do exaggerate, but I still had best return to her,” he paused as an idea came to him, the Knight once again bowing, “If you so wish, I welcome you all to join me for a feast tomorrow in honor of your Majesty.”

Trixie responded first, doing so by pointing her wine glass at him, “Will there be alcohol?”

With a strangely serious face, Mitter’meyer nodded to her, “Copious amounts, I am sure.”

“It means returning to the city,” Kael warned, remembering how much it freaked out Trixie before. Not that he was much better, but she had been the one who literally asked to leave the tyrannical place.

Not wanting to appear weak in front of company, Trixie dismissed her discomfort with a wave of the hand, “Pfft, whatever.”

“I take it you are quite the fan of wine?” Mitter’meyer commented with amusement as he watched Trixie gulp down the remainder of her drink.

She nodded and laughed as she placed the glass down on the table, “Alcohol and I are new friends, but no matter how much time we spend together we never get enough.”

“I will be sure to bring out my best wine then, in thanks,” Mitter’meyer turned to face Kael and bowed one last time, “Goodnight, my lord. Come by tomorrow evening and my wife will have prepared you the best meal you will ever have.”

With that the Knight moved to leave, with Reuenthal only offering a silent bow before following suit. As they left, Kael called after them in parting thanks.

“Thank you for your hospitality, and send your wife my thanks.”

Once it was only Trixie and Kael left, they cleaned up the table and then returned to their room. Upon entering it though Trixie snapped her fingers and growled before just slapping herself on the forehead.

“Awww, Luna damn it!”

Kael rose his eyebrow at her curse, noticing for what he was sure was not the last time her saying something odd, “I think you mean Elune, but what is the matter?”

Trixie pulled out her empty coin pouch and tilted it upside down to show it was in fact empty to him, “I meant to ask them for money. I spent all of mine on wine, so we’re going to have to find more work soon if we want to keep a roof over our heads.”

In terms of things that matter, this was pretty unimportant so Kael shrugged. They could find work when they woke up, of that he was not worried, “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Trixie grumbled in agreement as she thought about the coming feast they would have in their honor, “At least we’re getting a meal for our work.”

Kael moved to take his spot on the bed, quite exhausted from this midnight excursion, “Don’t let their royal treatment of us spoil you too much. We can’t rely on others to treat us that way forever, lest we be discovered.”

Trixie instead took her seat at their room’s table where her blue book sat, “I could get used to being treated on like a Queen.”

“For that you would have to marry a prince,” Kael half-joked, unsure about what her response would be.

Trixie began to thumb through her book as she had vowed to earlier, absently responding to him, “Hmmm, you’re right…” after turning a page she decided to joke a little, “Do you know any available?”

Kael sighed as he laid down to get comfortable, not caring that he had not changed out of his outer layer of robes, and responded with his own attempt at humor, “Present company excluded, I would bet that the Human prince who led to the downfall of our kind is single.”

“He sounds like a horrible, selfish person,” Trixie groaned, even making a disgusted face at the suggestion he made.

Kael snorted at her response, which caused Trixie to cross her arms and resent his unspoken criticism of her own selfish tendencies, “Don’t look at me like that. I’m selfish, but I’m not horrible. And besides, I need someone to balance out my selfishness rather than compete with it.”

Kael sighed as he brought an arm over his face, “If you say so.”

Silence fell between them until Trixie had a random thought that made her giddy, “Hey, what if I am a secret princess of some sort? Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

“What are the chances of that though?” Kael reasoned. Besides, her personal habits and tendency to sit like a dog might when on the floor made her hardly princess material in his eyes.

That deflated her somewhat, if only because it was true, “You’re right. I should just appreciate the fact that my partner is a prince and not look that gift horse in the mouth.”

Feeling a bit awkward about the whole marriage subject, Kael decided to cut it short by just announcing his intention to sleep, “That nap earlier didn’t exactly do it for me. I think I’ll sleep in a bit tomorrow, or rather today.”

“You sleep then, prince boy. I’m going to catch up on my reading,” Trixie mocked jokingly, even sticking a tongue out at him.

Kael could hear her do it, but he honestly didn’t care since he could still verbally outdo her even if he was exhausted, “You don’t understand the language. You barely know how to do the basics.”

“I’ll show you I am perfectly capable on my own. Goodnight, rich boy.”

“Goodnight, poor wench.”

Author's Note

Please leave your thoughts in the comments below! It was sad last chapter when barely anyone did, and those who did were talking to eachother and not even about the chapter. It's hard to write when it seems no-one cares, so please comment this time(and in the future)! I really do love hearing from you all and appreciate your thoughts greatly

Level 8: The Prince Returns to Silvermoon City

A/N: Special thanks to Ketvirtas, refferee, God Of Physics, SilentMech, Quixotic Enigma, Tinee_The_TinCan, JakJak75, and nioniosbbb for your comments last chapter, and I hope to hear from you again this chapter!

I am sorry for being gone a week, but as a recent journal explained, I had personal reasons for taking time off from writing. I'm back now though, and I'm thankful for all the support given!

I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I equally hope to hear from you in the comments below!

Trixie ended up sleeping well into the day because of how late she stayed up reading. Without Kael’s aid she was progressing very slowly in her studies, though she felt as if she was at the threshold of understanding the basics of the next spell in her book. For the time being though, she was unable to do much of anything with it, so it would have to wait until Kael could assist her.

Come afternoon, only being a little after Trixie woke up, the two made their way back into the city that they previously had fled from due to its oppressive nature. With their papers from before they managed to get back in with ease, the guards basically ignoring them because of basic recognition.

The innkeeper had given them directions to Mitter’meyer’s home, with the additional info that she only knew the way because of how often she needed to find someone to bring the drinking partners of Mitter’meyer and Reuenthal back there. She didn’t know where Reuenthal lived, but she sent him there with the logic that they were friends and that Mitter’meyer’s wife was nice enough to also look after him.

Instead of following the path they took last time, they headed towards a section of the town on its eastern end which was named “The Royal Exchange”. A series of large residences lined the area, which appeared to be the housing units of what Trixie and Kael assumed to be nobles and well off Elves.

The smallest of these houses, in fact being no more grand or large than any to be found elsewhere in the city, was the one they were directed to. The humble nature of the house contrasted greatly with the lavish and ostentatious ones to be found by it, especially since it appeared to be the only such house in the area. They would later learn that this was because it was a recreation of a house lost to the Scourge invasion, but they had no way of knowing that at the time.

Upon reaching the house, Trixie moved to be the one to knock on the door. Just because it was Kael who was really beloved to these soldiers did not mean that she would let him hog all of the attention.

The door was quickly opened, as if someone had been waiting for it specifically. The person to open it was a blonde woman with hair even lighter than Mitter’meyer’s more golden hair. Her soft face had similarly soft green eyes, which matched her aquamarine dress that was quite conservative in that unlike most other dresses to be found in the Blood Elves region it covered her whole body from the bottom of the neck to where its skirt ended at her ankles.

The woman smiled and bowed her head slightly to Trixie, who smirked at the respect shown, “You must be Ms. Lulamoon. I am Evangelin,” the woman rose back up to her full height only to realize that diagonally behind Trixie was the other guest Mitter’meyer had said would be coming, yet she doubted would actually arrive. She quickly bowed her head fully while giving him a curtsy with her skirt, “Oh, my lord, I must apologize! I thought my husband was putting on a farce when he said you were to visit us.”

While Trixie rolled her eyes at the display, given that she was the only one seemingly able to treat him like a normal being, Kael instead waved his hand to dismiss Evangelin’s gesture, “Do not worry. I am not worried about formalities.”

Evangelin gratefully nodded her head before rising to gesture to the house’s entrance, “Please, come in. I just finished preparing everything.”

The smell of food began to reach the noses of both Trixie and Kael, with the former feeling her stomach rumble as it remembered that it had not eaten at all that day, “Thank you, Ms. Evangelin.”

With that, Evangelin led the two inside to a dining room where a large table was set up with plates upon plates of food. Bread, poultry, varied and unknown meats to Kael and Trixie, fruit, and vegetables all lined the table with some visibly still having steam rise from them. Everything appeared fresh and delicious, so much so that it may have been possible that Trixie did not notice the blonde haired man sitting at one end of the table rise up to bow.

Mitter’meyer bowed to Kael, who unlike Trixie seemed to actually notice, “My lord, I welcome you to my humble home. I hope you find it and the food to your liking.”

“I am sure everything will be quite fine. The smell alone is alluring. Your wife must be quite the fabulous cook.”

Trixie’s response was far less polite, in that she took a seat and began preparing to eat by placing a napkin on herself, “This all looks amazing!”

Evangelin smiled brightly at the enthusiastic woman before turning to also smile at Kael, “Granting you a serviceable meal is the least I can do to thank you for bringing my husband home.”

Trixie began to look for utensils to eat with, only to have the until then silent Reuenthal hand her a set. He had rose along with Mitter’meyer, but his lack of speech had failed to draw any attention to him until then. Trixie sheepishly thanked him in a whisper while Kael continued the actual conversation.

“It was our pleasure. It is quite disgraceful how the officials are acting here in Silvermoon, and so righting one of their wrongs was the least I could do for a man who stood up for my name.”

Mitter’meyer gestured to the table and everyone took their seats, with Mitter’meyer at one end and Kael at the opposite side. Evangelin sat to Mitter’meyer’s right, with Reuenthal to his left, and Trixie sitting to his left and Kael’s right.

Once seated, Mitter’meyer gestured to a nearby window with a scowl on his face, though his voice demonstrated that he was not angry at anyone present, “Are you going to confront the others here in Silvermoon who would dare besmirch your name? There are many who still adore you, despite the rumors, and it is really just a vocal minority and the major officials who are taking such a hardline stance against you.”

Trixie shot Kael a look, worried about what his response might end up being, but to her relief he played it safe by making no promise.

“I am afraid that will have to wait. I wish I could say more about the subject, but…”

Reuenthal spoke for the first time in the conversation as he rose a hand to stop Kael, “We understand. We answer to you, my lord. Not the other way around.”

Glad to be spared of having to explain himself, Kael found himself glad he had revealed some information to Reuenthal. It meant he didn’t have to give out anything else for the time being.

Mitter’meyer cleared his throat and waved a hand at all the food before them, “Well, how about we eat? I do not want my wife’s delicious food to go cold and lose its taste.”

No-one had a complaint to that, and the group quickly set about devouring the food prepared for them.

The afternoon meal went by at brisk pace, mostly fueled by the enormous appetite Trixie possessed and her ability to eat at a far greater pace than everyone else. Kael and Trixie conveyed the details of their short journey thus far to the crowd, while Mitter’meyer traded his own story that led to him being imprisoned.

His rendition of it was both parts honest and humble, and at certain points Reuenthal would add a word or two to flesh it out and reveal a feat of strength or display of character on behalf of his friend. Because of Reuenthal’s additions it was learned that Mitter’meyer’s greatest quality was his natural agility which allowed him to blitz the offenders and take them down at a speed faster than any of them could react, speed which had earned him the name of Gale Wolf on the battlefield in past years.

Despite the praise spoken, Trixie found herself a little put off by the man’s eternal cold gaze. Even in the rare moments where he would appear happy, Reuenthal’s eyes were as piercing as an eagle’s. Even in moments of good cheer and lightheartedness he did not lose his composure, which felt odd to Trixie. She knew she put on an act for others, one of a confident person who was in control and prideful, but she could drop it. Given his genuine concern for Mitter’meyer, he couldn’t be solely cold, but just how deep was this façade of his?

After the meal, Mitter’meyer and Evangelin would not hear of letting Kael do the dishes even though he offered to do so, so Trixie found herself helping Evangelin with them. Mitter’meyer had stayed in the dining room to entertain Kael, and Reuenthal had so graciously accepted the offer from Trixie to do them. She doubted he had ever done his own dishes, and though he seemed about to offer after Kael did, she did not want to let him be a burden for Evangelin instead of an aid.

Trixie did not know how, but she felt like she knew how to do dishes. Like she knew how to be self-sufficient in some ways.

After the two started and Trixie was shown where all the supplies for the washing were they only started to talk after a thought crossed Trixie’s mind, “What do you think of Captain Reuenthal?”

“He is a noteworthy and distinguished soldier, and my husband’s closest friend,” Evangelin replied calmly in a manner that made it sound like she had said this line a thousand times before, as if it were pre-programmed and planned, “Why do you ask?” she asked back, the woman’s nice face showing some worry.

Trixie paused to try and think about how to explain why she felt so off about the man. She didn’t distrust him, not after his displayed loyalty and his genuine care for his friend, but he did not strike her as a very agreeable man, “He seems…” she paused as she sought for the right word, only to resort to one she was growing fond of in her studies, “Cold.”

Evangelin hung her head and let out a sad breath, as if she could not argue with the statement as much as she wanted to, “I do not think it my place to tell his history, but do not worry. It is not you personally which brings out that side of him,” she looked up to Trixie and frowned, “Still…”

“Is there something else?”

Evangelin looked back down to the dishes she was working on, “While my husband’s honor is his most noteworthy feature, as well as his biggest flaw, the Captain’s is his overwhelming sense of pride.”

Pride…Trixie could sympathize with that, even if her own was false. It would explain why the Captain carried a dignified air with him despite his tragic beginnings and the issues he must face as a result of it.

Evangelin continued on speaking since Trixie did not move to interrupt her, “He has gotten this far despite his unfortunate past, which goes to show how competent he is, so he has good reason for his prideful nature. I only wonder if his heart yearns for what he knows he could accomplish if only not for the prejudices our society casts on him. For what he knows he can never grasp.”

That too resonated with Trixie…were there unfulfilled dreams and aspirations in the life she left behind? Regrets about what she could not accomplish no matter how much she worked or strove to achieve?

“He seems quite refined. He comes from a noble background, right?” Trixie asked, not remembering if Reuenthal had said so far. She would like to know as much as she could about her allies,

“His father, or at least legal father, was in quite the high position in our noble court. His mother was similarly from a good family, but given his true heritage Reuenthal has both benefitted from these connections and been plagued by them. While normal people are forced to work together and cast aside their prejudices to get through life, the upper echelons of our society are not as enlightened.”

As Evangelin spoke, Trixie found herself smiling more and more. The woman appeared quite intelligent, and yet every indication pointed to her being nothing more than a homemaker. Trixie honestly did not expect to find such a deep opinion from someone who she doubted was very involved in politics, and that was why she found herself happy she supposed. A pleasant surprise.

“You know, for a house wife I wasn’t expecting someone so astute. You are quite the shrewd, intelligent woman.”

Evangelin placed her current dish down to give a curtsy to Trixie, “I thank you, my lady. I do try my best to support my husband, but that does not mean I am unable to have my own life and opinions.”

Trixie was happy that the noble and kind man was married to a similarly nice woman, and the idea that the two would make brilliant and kind blonde offspring was also heartening. From what Trixie had seen, they would make great parents.

Feeling nervous about being shown this level of respect despite being a guest, Trixie waved her head to each side, “You do not have to call me by any such title, you know. I am your guest after all.”

Evangelin rose an eyebrow, genuinely curious about Trixie’s downplaying of her social status, “It is only proper to address the companion of our lord in such a manner.”

“I am just some common girl with no memory who has the privilege of accompanying such a kind man. Having friends refer to me as anything more feels embarrassing.”

“Oh, so you and the lord are not…” Evangelin paused to lower her voice, “Involved?”

Trixie, being oblivious to all matters romantic, tilted her own head as she became the one who was confused, “Whatever do you mean? We are partners, but that does not make me a lady any more than it makes him a commoner.”

“That would explain how Mitter’meyer mentioned there was only one bed…”

Trixie continued to dig her proverbial grave with every word spoken, not realizing in the slightest how her words might be received, “Oh, yes, Kael and I sleep together every night. He’s quite warm, actually, though I haven’t tested if he makes a good pillow yet.”

Evangelin blushing and gasping made Trixie realize that perhaps she said something odd, so she tried to find out what was odd about it all.

“What? Do traveling companions not usually sleep together?”

Evangelin cast her gaze to the side, her hands slowly going about cleaning another dish, “Not unless they are lovers, though I am no expert on adventures and such things. I’ve only ever known Mitter’meyer in this realm of life.”

Trixie slowly placed the dish she herself had been working on down, “Oh…” she felt blood rush to her own cheeks at the thought of what Evangelin had assumed, and immediately realized why her words may have been taken the wrong way, “We’re not lovers, but what’s so wrong with sharing a bed? It saves money after all.”

Realizing instantly that this rationalization made it look no better, Trixie sighed and hung her head.

“I will admit I do not think I have ever traveled or really lived with someone, so this all is quite foreign to me…” she let out a small laugh at herself based on her own ignorance she demonstrated, “I suppose it could appear inappropriate to someone who doesn’t have the proper context.”

Evangelin bowed her head to Trixie, “I apologize for assuming, my lady. You and prince Sunstrider just seem to get along quite well, and that is unheard of ever since he had his heart broken so many years ago.”

That caught Trixie’s attention fully. It was a piece to do with Kael’s former life, as well as a huge part likely of his personal life. This was juicy information she couldn’t resist prying about, even if it perhaps was not her business.

“His heart was broken?”

Evangelin realized that perhaps she had said too much already and began to backtrack, “Yes, but I am not sure if he would like me to speak about it. It would be rude to speak of my lord’s personal life when he is just in the other room.”

It only took Trixie a moment to find a way to rationalize a way to plead with the woman, “Please, as a favor to me? I do not want to possibly bring up painful memories for him, so the more I know the easier I can avoid such a matter.”

“Well…” Evangelin sighed as she realized that perhaps this would be for the better, “I know only the basics, but there was a human woman named Jaina he met who was a student of magic. We Elves live longer lives than humans, and so while our prince was older than her they were about at the same level of maturity and in terms of lifespan he was much younger. However, this age difference was still an issue for the woman, and she instead went on to love the human prince named Arthas.”

Trixie was glad that Kael likely did not have this hanging over his head. Wasn’t it the human prince who destroyed the Blood Elf kingdom? That meant that Kael lost the woman he loved to the man who would destroy his land and harm his people. To have that in his heart must have hurt more than a thousand arrows, “I see…”

Emboldened by the sad look on Trixie’s face, Evangelin spoke in a whisper so that the men in the other room could not possibly hear her, “Do you want to be involved with our prince?”

The question made Trixie balk instantly, her mind barely processing the question before she crossed her arms and looked away, “Kael may be quite the stallion, I am not a gold-digger. If I marry someone it will be because I find them to be agreeable, not because it will boost my status. That is an unfair, disgraceful manner of achieving fame.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

The truth behind that statement made Trixie’s very full stomach drop, “He is my friend, and the only person I have had since I woke up with no memories on Sunstrider Isle. Why make things complicated by thinking along those lines? I only need a companion who will aide me in my journey, who in turn I can aid in his.”

Trixie’s response made Evangelin giggle before commenting again, “That sounds like an ideal marriage. A marriage is a partnership of sorts, after all.”

This was a losing battle for Trixie, so she tried to find a way to drop it, “Maybe, but marriage also means having kids and the like, and I’m not even twenty…I believe. I can worry about that when I have built up a reputation and become the famous magician I wish to be.”

The mention of children caused Evangelin’s face to grow stoic for a moment, which Trixie picked up on because the hostess did not have a reply right away this time.

“Did I say something wrong?”

Evangelin gave Trixie a sad smile before shaking her head.

“No, don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

Across the house Kael and the two soldiers had continued their own conversations when the two women had left to clean up. Kael felt bad about having Trixie do it in his place, but he didn’t want to act out of his role prescribed to him by his hosts, who seemingly fully believed him to be the one and only Kael’thas Sunstrider even if his clothes were ruined and he seemed a bit out of it overall. A prince doing the dishes would seem quite odd, and while it may be charming in some ways it would possibly make them doubt him…

Though, the more Kael thought about it, perhaps Mitter’meyer could be let in on the secret as well…

The host broke out a bottle of wine and presented it to both Kael and Reuenthal, with the latter holding up a hand to pass on it, “As pleased as I am that you have returned, Mitter’meyer, I believe I will refrain from drinking too much. I have dinner plans tonight.”

Mitter’meyer narrowed his eyes at his friend as he placed the wine bottle down with some force, “What will it take for you to settle down and stop this philandering? It’s a different girl every night!”

“Statistically, I believe it is more of an average of five to six days,” Reuenthal replied with closed eyes and smile he would grow when he was in some bad situation, this time because he was being accosted for something he could realize was an issue of sorts, but not one he cared to fix or change in any way.

“The fact that you can have a statistical analysis means you need to stop and settle down,” Mitter’meyer forcefully replied, his voice seeming to show that they had had this conversation many times before.

Not really wanting to get in-between the two in their argument, but also having things he wanted to talk about instead, Kael cleared his throat to draw their attention, “Ahem.”

Realizing that perhaps talking about Reuenthal’s nightly activities in front of his lord was not appropriate, Mitter’meyer quickly bowed, “Oh, I apologize my lord for bringing up such a topic in your presence. I just wish my good friend was as well adjusted as myself.”

Kael smiled at him, not really minding because he had not been really paying attention. Instead he had been focused on the issue he had been thinking of before, and he had come to a conclusion on the matter, “Do not worry. I just wanted to ask a favor of you two.”

“A favor?” Mitter’meyer replied with confusion, not knowing anything about what Kael had on his mind. Reuenthal on the other hand was more perceptive and expected something along the lines of what Kael was about to say given how he had already been informed.

“Mitter’meyer, this cannot leave the room,” Kael whispered just loud enough to be heard, “I already spoke with Reuenthal on the matter, but I am suffering from amnesia.”

The Knight gasped as he began to think about what that meant, “My lord…”

Kael spoke up as the Knight’s sentence drifted off, “I do not know what happened to me, but here I am without any memory. If you could say whatever stories you have of me, it may help me recover some of my thoughts and return to how I once was.”

“Of course. Anything for you, my lord—”

A loud noise unlike any Kael could remember came from outside the building, and it made everyone turn to face the window. Reuenthal and Kael each stood up to look outside, while Mitter’meyer moved to look through a different window.

Each of the three, even the stoic Reuenthal, found themselves stunned at what they saw as Trixie rushed into the room to join them, “What was that noise?”

She joined Mitter’meyer by the window since the large Reuenthal and the decently tall Kael obscured the other in the room. Outside was a sight that Trixie did not expect to see at all:

A elegantly robed man stood at the front of a large crowd of red skinned beings with thicker and broader features than Elves as well as similarly red eyes which blended in with their bodies, which were mostly unclothed except for armored pants and large shoulder pads. Each of the red beings also had a missing lower arm which was replaced with a blade of some kind. The only one of these unknown beings to really stand out was the one at the head of the pack, standing right behind the Elven man who was seemingly in charge. This one had a full set of armor, long black hair, and was far larger than the others around him. His own blade reflected this, and appeared far more menacing than the others standing behind him, which Trixie and Kael each assumed made him the dominant one of his group.

And the man standing before him?

“That’s…” Trixie gaped as she tried to understand what she was seeing. Could it really be that…

From the streets emerged a man who appeared to be some kind of official given his seemingly expensive robes that held the colors of Silvermoon. He said what was on everyone else’s minds as he approached and knelt before the man in similar crimson and golden robes, “Lord Kael’thas, you’ve returned! How fortunate it is to see you again!”

Standing at the front of a small army of unknown creatures was a perfect replica of Kael’thas, which made the one who had been accompanying Trixie feel intense fear. Was this the man who had been reportedly committing evil acts? If so, this was not going to go well, and if not, then it meant he himself might be seen as a fraud.

The Silvermoon official rose and gestured to the men standing behind the Kael’thas from Outlands, “These red Orcs are your guests I presume?”

The second Kael’thas finally addressed the man, having previously been looking around as if to observe all that has changed in his absence, “We will not be staying long, so guests is perhaps overstating it. We only seek to bring M’uru back with us, and find a person of particular interest.”

Trixie rose an eyebrow. What was a M’uru?

Fortunately, her question was partially answered by the official, who quickly became worried by what this Kael’thas had said, “My…my lord, M’uru grants us the power we need to survive. It is their energy that allows us all here in Silvermoon to not give in to our addictions…”

The well dressed Kael’thas smirked and shook his head slowly, “I understand, but I do not care. Normally I would have only used this as a last resort, but I seek to implement plans with M’uru earlier than intended given that things have changed.”

Others in the street had begun to gather around the scene, and while initially joyous at the sight of Kael’thas the crowd was beginning to grow weary and cautious.

The official gasped at his lord’s apathetic statement, his surprise quickly turning to anger despite the person he was speaking to, “You have no right to take our power from us! How will we live without it?!”

“Was I not the one who had M’uru brought here for you to all siphon energy from?” the Kael’thas outside asked rhetorically, “As your leader, I demand you step aside, Magistrix.”

Some guards from the city and their mechanical golems came to join the Magistrix in defying the prince, “We cannot let you pass! Not as you betray our people! You promised to find a way to help us, not take back the gift you once gave us and doom us to extinction!”

Seemingly disappointed, Kael’thas snapped his fingers, “Very well then. Kargath, handle the dissidents.”

The once known as Kargath, the large Orc in armor behind Kael’thas, let out a guttural laugh as he stepped forward and moved passed the second Kael, “As you wish. Illidan did say to help you, so it will be my pleasure to carve up a few of these dissidents.”

The name Illidan rang a bell in both Trixie’s and Kael’s mind as being the one who Kael was supposed to be working with in the realm known as Outlands…which meant that this indeed was the alternate Kael, and his flippant and cruel demeanor seemed to reveal him as exactly the villain so many had worried about him being.

Kargath levied his bladed arm at the guards before him before swinging it slowly to sweep across the crowd, “If anyone has any objections to your Prince’s demand, voice them now or step aside!”

“We can’t let you—”

The Magistrix never spoke another word, as the blindingly fast Kargath cut him down where he stood in a single strike. The blade that formed his lower left arm severed the man’s head and half his chest in a quick, curved strike that was almost impossible to actually see.

Kargath laughed as the man’s remains hit the ground, “One.”

Inside his house, Mitter’meyer growled and balled his fists. He refused to believe that the man outside was his prince, especially since he had a man who was like the prince he once remembered right at hand. Who was this imposter outside, and why was he deceiving everyone?

Two of the golems and two of the guards from the city moved to attack the large Orc, who happened to not be receiving any aid from his own allies.

The reason for that was that it was not a fight.

Kargath quickly impaled each of the two Elven guards, only to use their corpses as projectiles to fling at a rapid pace at the sentries, which broke as Elves hurtled through them as if they were launched from a cannon.

“Three!” Kargath continued to count, seemingly not considering the golems as kills.

Inside the house, Kael was left too shocked to know what to do. There was absolutely nothing he could do to stop the small army outside, and even those putting up a resistance were falling without any seeming chance of winning. He wanted to go and help out, but by the same token he knew such an effort would be worthless.

Trixie was in the same boat, though she was growing sick from the sight of the various dismembered guardsmen and the Magistrix. The way they were butchered made her almost lose her recent meal.

Not as new and untrained as Trixie or Kael though, Mitter’meyer had less reservations about going outside and aiding his comrades. He cast his gaze over to his partner as if to ask permission, “Reuenthal.”

Outside Kargath slew another Elf, with his dozen or so soldiers behind him engaging some others guards and seemingly holding the upper hand in the combat, “Oh come now, I thought you Elves were stronger than this! What a disappointment your people proved to be, Prince.”

Reuenthal returned his friend’s look, though he did so with a shake of the head. He was scowling though, as if the sight before him was enough to make even the cold man angry, “We will lose this fight. Those Orcs appear to be empowered by demon blood, if their odd coloration means what it did when they first became green.”

Mitter’meyer slammed a hand down on the nearby table, “We can’t just sit by and watch!”

Reuenthal nodded, first pointing outside to point at one Kael before pointing at the one they had been with, “Of course not, but there is an imposter parading around our city with forces that outmatch our own. It is important that we grant our real lord an opportunity to escape.”

More hot blooded than Reuenthal but still intelligent, Mitter’meyer understood the Captain’s logic. They would be of no real aid and just get themselves killed if they assaulted the invaders head on, but they could accomplish a different goal if they tried, “Of course.”

Unlike the two soldiers, Trixie and her partner were not anywhere near as composed at the time. While Kael was shocked by the sight of his physical double and the grossness of his actions, Trixie was beginning to feel frightened for her life. She wanted to help out the poor people being cut down by the men serving the fake prince, but at the same time she had seen firsthand how monstrous the Orc leader was and she doubted that she could even contest one of his smaller counterparts. The feeling of wanting to take action mixed with her fear made Trixie feel disgusted with herself, as she was essentially frozen from acting in any way as her mind and morality battled.

As the one most in control of his emotions and mind at the time, Reuenthal was the one to make his way to the exit while beckoning the others to follow. Kael’thas might be his prince, but he would not allow his prince’s shock lead to the possibility of him being caught by these foes. They would most certainly be interested with obtaining the true Kael’thas, and Reuenthal had a feeling that the person of interest mentioned outside was none other than the one he had with him.

Was it possible that the Kael with him was the fake and the other the real one? Of course, but witnessing each of them and their actions made the distinction clear in the Captain’s mind.

“Come, we must go before things escalate further.”

Mitter’meyer moved to hurry the stunned Kael along, only to then realize that his wife had been standing behind them all. Evangelin stood in shock at the screams and the view of the outside, causing her husband to rush to her side.

“It will be okay, Evangelin, and I will be back soon. Stay inside, and stay hidden.”

She nodded as she and her husband embraced. She was used to seeing him off to battle, but this was a civil war literally at their front door.

“Be safe.”

Kael shook himself out of his dazed state to begin evacuating the building as well. While one might be tempted to stay inside at all costs, Kael had the same worry as the Captain in that it was incredible timing that this alternate Kael appeared at the same time as him. The further he could get from him, the better.

With a glance to the side, Kael noticed the similarly out-of-it Trixie falling into step beside him as they made their way to what Kael assumed was a rear exit of the house.

With concern and care both, Kael gripped her hand, though the apparently shocked Trixie did not seem to grab his back. With this grip though he managed to keep her following them at a faster speed than the mentally stunned magician might otherwise have managed on her own.

Reuenthal led Kael, Trixie, and Mitter’meyer to the back of the house where an alternate door rested. He swiftly threw this door open with the flick of a wrist and urged the others through, and once they were all outside and had a building in-between them and the chaotic brawl, he pulled the door shut and began to hurry past them.

The path he was taking them to leave was actually in the direction of the city’s main entrance, and by hiding behind buildings they managed to escape the attention of the Orcs as they continued to battle. The sight of their comrades being cut down was making Mitter’meyer’s blood boil, but he continued behind the others as a read guard in opposite of Reuenthal’s lead.

After cutting across a few yards and actually busting down some fences with Mitter’meyer’s strength and a hammer he had grabbed on the way out when neither Kael or Trixie were paying attention, they managed to circle around the conflict raging in the streets and were a few hundred feet from the front entrance to Silvermoon…

…which happened to have Orcs battling the guards, who seemed to be overwhelmed as the red skinned invaders beat them savagely with rapid speed and strength far greater than their own.

This did not perturb Reuenthal, who had actually seemed to expect this. The entrance of the city opened into a U shaped path, the left branch of which Trixie and Kael had taken in their first visit and the right branch they took to get to Mitter’meyer’s house. With an index finger pointing to a building nearby the entrance but partially down the path Reuenthal continued to lead the others past the second battle, “This way.”

Before they could manage to slip in-between the two sites of conflict, a deep bellow called out across the road which made Mitter’meyer stop.

“Is that a Blood Knight I see running away?” came the taunting voice of Kargath, who was adeptly handling two more soldiers as he watched the retreating four Elves, “What kind of Paladin runs and lets his people die so meaninglessly?”

The others stopped to look back at their companion, who instead of looking angry instead had a smile on his face as his fists clenched. His face may have appeared smug and positive, but in reality it was hiding a seething rage befitting of a man who could not stand injustice or anything dishonorable.

“Twelve,” Kargath shouted as he cut down his two foes, and inadvertently and possibly intentionally deciding Mitter’meyer’s mind up. The Paladin turned around and prepared his hammer, his pace slow as he began to prepare himself for battle. He was grateful he and Reuenthal had worn their full dress clothes, not that Reuenthal ever seemed to wear anything else, to the meal as a method of respecting their lord.

“Mitter’meyer,” Reuenthal warned his friend. While wholly confident in the fighting capabilities of the man, he knew the danger of fighting enemies empowered by demonic energies, and he also knew history well enough to recognize the name of Kargath Bladefist, warchief of the Shattered Hand clan and former hero of the Orc Horde.

Mitter’meyer shook his head as his eyes began to focus on the Orc warchief coming his way, “He’s seen us. At least this way I can buy you some time. Let me repay my debt to you all.”

Kael wanted to object, as did Trixie, but neither spoke up. How could they turn down his offer when they all could die if they did not take it? Mitter’meyer and Reuenthal perhaps could combat the Orc with the giant blade for a limb, but they could also take care of the vulnerable Trixie and Kael.

Understanding his friend’s decision, Reuenthal nodded and turned to leave once again, now intending to hurry twice as fast as he previously had, “Once they are safe, I will return for you.”

“Take your time. I have twelve comrades to avenge.”

With that Reuenthal actually grabbed Kael and tugged him for a moment, forgetting briefly in his concern for his friend about who it was he was escorting. He could not afford to allow Kael and Trixie to either stray or lag behind, and he was at least glad that the other Orcs seemed single mindedly focused on their individual battles to notice anyone else.

Just before Kael could manage to look away from Mitter’meyer he noticed the man rush forward at Kargath, snarling as he approached the large Orc. Another Orc attempted to get in his way, not seeming to realize the challenge that had been levied, only to be smashed across the face with a blurred hammer strike that caused the Orc to crash and tumble before impaling theirself on their bladed arm. Kael did not get to see the next moment where his loyal subordinate actually clashed weapons with the warchief, but he hoped dearly that the man would be okay.

The building that Reuenthal had gestured to before turned out to be an Inn of a similar style to the one the other two had been staying at, except this one had an exit on the other side which Reuenthal was focused on reaching. He had to push past some civilians to make a path for his group, meanwhile only offering the weak apology of, “Excuse us.”

A woman in the room scoffed at the sight of him dragging someone along with him, who in turn was dragging someone along with him too, “Reuenthal, you never visit, and now you are rushing through. What is going on out there?”

Reuenthal ignored them to instead push Kael and Trixie outside, at which point he pointed at a wall to their left. To their right was the area the mind controlling incident had happened, so Kael and Trixie had not yet encountered this area. It appeared to be a bazaar of some kind, though the details did not make themselves readily apparent to the two as their minds were otherwise preoccupied.

“Silvermoon is not fully restored yet. Over there, through that building next to the wall, you will find a hole that a child could fit through. You will have to find a way to make it larger, but we should be grateful we have invested more in fine wine than the restoration of this city.”

A large growl and a scream from nearby in the bazaar revealed that an Orc had wandered over here as well, and was currently assaulting some mages who had no idea previously what was going on.

In reaction to this Reuenthal lifted a weapon similar to the one he had used the other night and pointed it at the Orc, and with the click of a finger the Orc’s body fell to the ground, blood spilling from the temple of its head, as a loud bang came from the mechanical device.

Reuenthal nodded over to the other two as he once again pointed to one of the buildings which lined against the city’s wall, “Go. The Orcs will have no guards outside the city, so head south and find Fairbreeze village. From there you can secure passage to wherever you may desire to travel.”

“Hold up, I’m not about to let a bounty get away!” came a voice familiar to Trixie and Kael from behind them in the Inn. The group looked back to see the Hunter from Sunstrider Isle, her face cold as she glared at Kael once again.

“You again?” Trixie gasped, surprised to run into her again. Had she been staying at this Inn instead of their own? And of all times to see her…

The Hunter pulled her bow out and pointed a loaded arrow at Kael, “I thought I recognized you at Sunstrider Isle. I don’t know why there are two of you, but you seem to be far less powerful than the other. People will still want your head on a pike after this though, so I bet I can get a reward for bringing you back with me.”

Reuenthal did not seem very worried about the archer, instead noticing four more Orcs wandering into the bazaar. With a quick snap shot he shot the hand of the Hunter and made her drop her bow, the woman growling in pain as he gave a strong but level order to the others.

“Go.”

Sensing no compromise in his voice as he began to head towards the Orcs, Kael nodded and reaffirmed his grip on Trixie.

“Thank you.”

Trixie felt like she might not see the man, or his friend, again if this invasion of Orcs continued. This feeling that she was about to see a man go to his death made her stomach flip, and so she had trouble forming words, “Uhhh…” as Kael began to pull her away, Trixie finally managed to get out, “Don’t die, okay?”

Reuenthal gave his trademark smirk caused by being in some negative situation as he prepared his weapon and began to aim it at the Orcs as the finally noticed their dead comrade and came to the conclusion that the armored soldier must be the cause, “Because the lady has asked so nicely, I will make sure to not perish in this unfortunate conflict. I only ask that she reciprocates.”

The Hunter attempted to lunge at Trixie, who was closest to her at the time, only for Reuenthal to back handedly knock her down with the strength of a professional soldier. With no-one now in their way to go, Kael and Trixie ran as fast as they could to the designated point granted by Reuenthal.

Neither of them focused on what actually was inside the building, and while someone inside tried addressing their sudden entrance, neither paid them any mind as they scanned it for a damaged wall. The hole was located in the back left side of the room they were in, and they each gave a small apology as they began to find a way to make the hole bigger.

Trixie froze someone who tried to stop them with her first spell, only to then realize something: if she froze the structure around the small hole, she could perhaps shatter it with a strong enough strike. Her newest spell seemed to be one more geared towards damage than merely freezing, but she had not even performed it yet or learned its name.

Grabbing her book from the special rope harness she had made for it while Kael was asleep, Trixie opened right to the page she had left off on. Something about it all clicked in her mind as she looked over it this time, and so while she muttered first the spell to freeze the wall she quickly followed it up with her newest spell, roughly translated to “Ice Lance”.

“Gi’kor!”

A large shard of blocky ice formed in the air before Trixie and flew directly where she was facing, crashing through the wall and breaking it enough to let them through. While feeling bad about damaging someone’s property, she was more worried about her life.

The two escaped from the area with little difficulty after that point, and once they were a good few hundred feet into the lush forest they took a moment to stop and breathe.

Given their momentary pause, Trixie decided to clear some of the air about something very important.

“Kael, that guy in the city…he’s…”

Trixie found herself cut off by her friend letting out a sudden, but stifled laugh.

“Now I’m wondering who is the imposter,” Kael whispered, his green eyes closing as he thought about how quickly he had come across his counterpart. Was this chance or a result of the other Kael searching for him? He did not know, and he felt terrible he had to abandon his new friends because of how none of them wanted to find out.

While not entirely sure about the actual credibility of one Kael versus the other, Trixie was sure of something, and she was not going to let her companion despair over his identity crisis if she could say something about it.

“If Kael’thas Sunstrider was as good as we heard about, he wouldn’t do what he just did. You’re a good man, unlike that fiend, so you have to be the real one. Right?” Trixie forcefully told Kael, sounding as if she was demanding him to see things her way. In reality she was trying to convince herself as much as him, but in the end she didn’t care if he was the legitimate leader or not. She befriended him when he was just a normal Elf who was kind enough to help her after all, so she didn’t need anything more from him.

For his part, Kael felt guilty for involving his friend in such an issue which otherwise would not concern her, “You know, you do not have to continue traveling with me. I’m sure it makes things more difficult for you.”

Taking a hand and bringing it to the top of her chest, Trixie began to boast as her other hand found its place on her hip, “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. I accept any and all challenges, as I am not some common plebian incapable of surmounting them.”

Kael did not want to point out how they just were forced to run from a challenge of sorts, and instead decided to focus on the loyalty being demonstrated to him. He was glad to have found someone willing to share in his hardships, even if she would not just go out and say it like that.

“That’s twice I’ve offered you the chance to leave, yet you’re still here.”

Trixie scoffed, almost hurt that he sounded at all surprised, “Perhaps the third time will be the charm, but for now I think I will continue traveling with a prince who may one day bring me heaps of fame.”

“Or infamy,” Kael joked back, his mind trying hard not to think of the clash of metal and screams just barely audible in the distance.

“Details, details.”

As soon as they had gained their powerful allies, they had seemingly lost them, and neither one would willingly address the issue right then and there.

Such was the world of Azeroth: for as grand and entertaining as things could be, a brutal reality sat below it all, one which Trixie found herself being forced to accept after that day’s events.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below!

Rest Experience 2: Foalish Phrasing

A/N: Special thanks to Refferee, nioniosbbbb, SilentMech, Tinee_The_TinCan, Ketvirtas, The1templar, zsewqthewolf, and Ozymandias42 for the comments last chapter! They are very much appreciated, and I hope to hear from you all again this chapter.

I hope you all enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

The rush from Silvermoon to the nearby settlement known as Fairbreeze Village was brief, but it revealed something to Kael and Trixie they had not pondered previously. Outside the city and by the edge of the forest was a stretch of blackened land where bones lay strewn about, and a consultation with the map provided to them by Reuenthal named the place as “the Dead Scar”. Fittingly named, it unnerved the two worried Elves as they looked back at it from the safety of the forest, though only Trixie mentally linked it to the invasion of the Scourge they had learned of. Kael was too preoccupied with thoughts of his alternate self to entertain such other thoughts, and so it was Trixie alone who was burdened by the thoughts of how that land once was where their fellow Elves were cut down and massacred by the dreadful undead.

Upon reaching Fairbreeze, which only really a two floored inn with some small structures by it, the two travelers considered what to do next. Reuenthal wanted them to keep fleeing, and there likely was some form of transportation from the area as a result of that fact, but that likelihood was extinguished by the lack of people to be seen there. It seemed that, given a glance to a nearby path, that the people of the settlement all had left to head to Silvermoon in seeming concern for what was happening there.

A more paragon part of Trixie wanted to warn those rushing to the city, but the rest of her kept her mouth shut. Drawing attention to herself and her companion could lead to both of them being in danger, and it was likely these Elves would turn back after hearing the clash of metal and battle in the city.

At least, that’s what she told herself as she and Kael approached the inn. Only one person was to be found inside, a woman who appeared to be in charge of the establishment, and she greeted the two dryly before telling them that they were out of luck if they wanted a room or a ride since the Dragonhawk master had left to go help in the Silvermoon crisis.

“Are you sure there is nowhere we can sleep?”

At Trixie’s attempt to plead the innkeeper paused and began to rethink the situation at Fairbreeze. After a moment she realized that one of her tenants had left at the first sound of danger, and likely would not be returning despite having paid his fees for the night.

Seeing as someone already paid for the room, the innkeeper granted it to them for free, and they both made haste upstairs as soon as they were granted permission to do so. The reason for the speed lay in their fortune in the area being deserted, which meant that if they hid right away that no-one would likely encounter them and thusly reveal their identity, which the innkeeper did not seem to be aware of given Kael’s red mask and how it seemed to shroud his face well enough.

Mentally exhausted despite their short day, due in part to both their odd sleep schedule and the events of the previous hour, Kael made way to the bed provided to them and made his intention of sleeping clear by stretching out and yawning loudly.

“I am going to rest now. You should see about coming to be soon as well, Trixie, so that we may begin at tomorrow’s early dawn freshly and leave at the most opportune moment. I do not wish to linger here for long lest that…man…come by and harass us.”

Trixie nodded and, while just as tired for the same reasons, did not wish to sleep just yet. She, like Kael, was worried about the Kael from Outlands they had seen, and a part of her wanted to be awake just in case something came their way. The most likely time of conflict would be the next few hours, and she wouldn’t mind forsaking that much rest if it meant being ready for those who would seek to hunt them.

Of course, her pride would not allow her to reveal this concern and care for Kael, who she was about to lose sleep over in an effort to protect them both, so she masked it with her reason for staying up later the night prior.

“Fine, rest now, I’ll join you soon enough. I want to do at least a little more reading before I do so though.”

Kael wasn’t entirely sure he bought her words, but he did not care. Daylight was still shining outside, yet he felt an ache in his head he could not shake. He’d have likened it to the sensation of magic withdrawal he felt previously except for the fact that his mind was too focused on sleeping to notice.

So, Kael went to bed as Trixie opened up her book to a random page and began reciting words beyond her comprehension, providing a soft tune of sorts for the man to fall asleep to with her voice.

He could see himself falling asleep to that sound this night, the next night, and every night after. If the prince had not been distraught over recent events, he’d have actually considered himself happy by the full realization of his feelings concerning a particular awkward woman whose mannerisms were so out of this world that he couldn’t help but be entertained and amused.

Kael fully expected to have at least two limbs hugged around him when he woke up early the next morning. Trixie was put off by everything just like he was, only from a different perspective, and so he had expected (and hoped) she would seek physical comfort that night by wrapping her arms around him.

So when Kael brought a hand to touch one of the limbs on top of him, he was surprised to feel that beneath the soft covers he was feeling fur. His groggy eyes batted open slowly as he ran his hand down the limb on top of his body until he reached one end, at which point his eyes shot open completely.

He had just touched a warm, furry being’s chest. Not an Elf.

Kael removed the limb, which he soon found out was a leg, from on top of him and moved himself to better look at what was sleeping beside him.

He sat up and groaned as he realized that he was not, in fact, being cuddled by his companion of the past few days.

“Trixie, why is there a discolored horse in our bed?”

Beside him was a miniature horse, just at the size where one could comfortably ride, sleeping next to him in the large bed he and Trixie had been provided. Its fur was blue, just barely noticeable in the faint light creaking into the room from the early morning, and it reacted to his moving of its leg and hoof by stretching it back out and poking him with its soft foot.

Why was there a horse in his bed? Why wasn’t Trixie responding? Had she left in the middle of the night and left this here as a prank?

Kael began to grow worried by the lack of response he was receiving, so he began to look around to room in the hope of finding Trixie laying somewhere as if she fell asleep in the wrong spot and this horse was just some random joke from the innkeeper, “Trixie?”

“Yeah, yeah, I can hear you, I’m trying to sleep…”

That made Kael’s spine shiver. He thought he heard that from right beside him, and since he had not been looking he had not seen it, but…

Kael looked down at the horse and furrowed his brow, worried that it did perhaps respond to him, “Did you just…”

The horse, or rather pony given its size, let out a yawn before poking him again with a hoof as it stretched out in a sleep manner. It tried curling its head into its chest before placing the more emotive leg over its eyes.

“My head hurts and I didn’t even drink last night…” it said with what was definitely Trixie’s voice, only to then peek out through the leg it put over its eyes, “Where is this horse you speak of?”

Shocked and unsure about how to respond, Kael tried to find a rational explanation for this in his mind only to come up with none. The horse was talking. Talking with Trixie’s voice as if it was her.

“…look at your hand.”

The horse, which seemed to be Trixie given its responsiveness and voice, put its hoof lazily in front of its face again, “What’s wrong with it?”

Kael did not even need to respond before the horse-Trixie yelped and jumped up suddenly, its movement nearly knocking Kael off the bed. He realized just as she did this that he was right on the edge, no doubt pushed there by the large being who also populated the bed, and struggled to keep himself from falling over completely as this pony-Trixie began looking itself over.

Its eyes were the same shade of purple as Trixie’s eyes shone before, and its mane was actually an exact replica albeit bigger of how it had been as an Elf. The silver-blue mane was of course partially distorted by bed-hair, but it held the recognizable shape it had previously had, though none of this was of course any comfort to Trixie who began to panic at this sudden change, “What did you do to me? Why do I have a hoof!?”

Kael didn’t like being accused, though he was just as baffled as she was by this. Why was she a horse now? “Don’t look at me! I didn’t expect to wake up with a horse next to me!”

Trixie stopped her panic just long enough to realize that she was glad she removed her clothes before going to bed sans her underwear, as the robes that lay at the end of the bed lazily would undoubtedly not fit her in this body. Her bra had come undone during the night at some point, and her underpants also were removed by her transformation. This fact was more embarrassing for Kael than it was Trixie, but she noted it all nonetheless as she sat with the covers draping over her back, “These clothes don’t really fit me anymore. Just when I was getting used to wearing them…”

“I noticed,” Kael noted as he turned his head away, not wanting to see anything scandalous because of this random event, even using the purple blanket they had been sleeping under to shield her from his view. After a moment of this, he took a peek at her face only to notice that something was sticking out from the top of it that he hadn’t thought of before, “You’re a Unicorn too! I’m glad you didn’t gouge out my eye in the middle of the night!”

Trixie brought a hoof up to her head and touched the horn protruding from her head, only to realize the strong and pointed object was most certainly there, “Oh, that,” realizing that Kael seemed even more put of by her change than her, and also not liking the feeling of being judged, Trixie pointed the horn at him, “Watch what you say or I’ll do it now.”

Kael held his hands up defensively, “Can we question why you are a horse now?”

“I don’t know. Why are you an Elf?” Trixie retorted smarmily, finding herself more and more comfortable in this body with each passing second. It felt normal and natural, much unlike the feeling she had when waking up as an Elf.

“Seriously, Trixie. If someone transformed you we need to do something about it. We don’t even know if you will return to your previous form.”

Trixie shrugged, finding herself not all that worried as she thought more about it. This felt…right, “This actually feels kind of familiar…” she paused and smiled at Kael as a thought dawned on her, “What if this is my real body?”

That possibility had certainly crossed Kael’s mind, and it put a lot of what she had done and said previously in context. Her word choice, her way of sitting on the ground, her impossibly high alcohol tolerance for someone of her constitution, her lack of regard for clothing…

“It would explain a few of your more eccentric qualities…” Kael admitted as he pondered the possibility. It didn’t make the fact that he was at this point falling in love with her dorky, prideful personality any easier on his mind given the oddity of loving an animal. A part of him wasn’t at all surprised actually, and he more he thought the faster the feeling faded from him.

How had he known? Did he somehow know her before the amnesia? If so, how?

Still, so little was known about this transformation that there was little reason to wonder as to why specific things made sense. The basics needed to be discovered, such as why the transformation occurred and why she was ever one form or the other. Furthermore, Kael doubted others would be as…understanding about a talking, sapient horse.

“Okay then, let us work with the logic that this is your true form. I do not believe others will take all that kindly to a talking horse. It will most definitely draw attention, and not the kind I think you would like.”

That was something Trixie could agree with fully, and so she nodded slowly as she considered he ramifications of her supposedly new body, “Hmmph,” taking a look down at herself and then at Kael, Trixie shrugged with her blue furred shoulders, “Well, what now?”

A sudden urge overtook Kael, who brought a hand out to touch the top of Trixie’s equine chest. Moving the hand down slowly, he began to smile as he realized how soft she was.

As Kael’s hand slowly moved to the place in-between her front leg and barrel he spoke with a voice full of mirth and amusement, “You’re fuzzy.”

Trixie was obviously not as amused by this, though she couldn’t ignore the good feeling that the petting was drawing from her, “This isn’t a petting zoo!” she felt a twitch in her lower right leg, which was the one next to her tormenter who dared to continue rubbing her side, “Kae-ae-llll...”

Her leg splayed out and bumped into Kael’s legs as Trixie lost control of it, only to pull it back in and have it kick out again. She forcibly tried to stop it as Kael began to laugh while continuing the motion, Trixie’s body tingling in a fashion she wasn’t familiar with as her blue fur moved back and forth with his hand.

Kael was fully amused by the whole situation now, forgetting the implications of having feelings for a horse while observing Trixie’s leg lose control like a dog’s might under similar situations, “Did your leg just…”

“Stop it!” Trixie yelped before rolling over to her side in an attempt to free herself from his grip, as well as to stop the tingling feeling.

Kael held his hands up in surrender, allowing Trixie to escape from his touch even if she was the softest thing he remembered touching, “Okay, okay. Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.”

Trixie pulled all of her legs in close to her and gave him a pouting face while her eyes averted to the side, “It’s okay, just don’t do it again,” after a moment she added quickly and softly, “Without my permission.”

Things calmed down at that point given Trixie’s lapse in speaking and Kael’s own nervousness stemming from the situation as a whole now that he was no longer concerned with the benefits of a furred companion. If he went outside with a horse of an odd color, that would draw attention. If Trixie couldn’t keep quiet like a normal horse, that’d draw much more. That’s not to mention the lack of modesty Trixie would possess as a horse, which he doubted she would mind but it was making him nervous nonetheless.

He wanted to say to himself it was just concern for his companion’s well-being, though he knew it was more selfish than that. The idea of strangers seeing her naked, even as an animal, irritated him…Kael would shake his head of those thoughts if it wouldn’t make Trixie question his action, and so he quietly banished the ideas of Trixie’s modesty in favor for the sour expression the equine had grown. For a large animal, she was quite expressive, and he found it easy to gauge her feelings based on the position of her muzzle and face.

“Trixie, what is wrong?” he paused as he realized how she might snark about the basic fact that she was a horse now, “Besides the obvious.”

She pulled her hooves over her face in embarrassment and self-pity, trying to hide herself from view as the rest of her was covered by the purple blanket, “I’m a freak. How can I be famous or taken seriously if I’m just some animal?”

Doubtful about his crush being returned, and also unsure about how his feelings would change given her transformation, Kael decided to just be supportive/friendly, not anything more. He brought a hand to her shoulders and neck and began to stroke them gently, trying his best to not emulate the petting he was doing previously.

“We’ll find a way around this. If you became an Elf once, or the reverse, there must be a way to undo this process.”

Trixie’s only verbal response was a pout, which Kael responded to with a sigh of his own. It was time to fully contemplate the issue, and that meant understanding how it may have come about.

“What were you doing last night?” Kael reasoned it was a good place to start. Perhaps something she had done caused the change?

That elicited a response from her, the mare stopping her soft sobbing to look at Kael and frown while her hooves moved to cross over one another on top of a pillow, “I was studying a new spell, mumbled some things, realized I wasn’t getting anywhere still, slept, and then now,” she paused as she tried to recollect the night, finding herself unable to remember anything else in her admittedly dark, “I think.”

That was a start at least. If she had dabbled in magic and messed something up, it could explain her either going from a natural Elf to a horse or from a transformed Elf back to her original body of a horse.

Kael got himself up and moved towards a nearby dining table that had Trixie’s blue book on it, right next to some plates, napkins, and a set of salt and pepper shakers, “Let me read your book.”

Trixie burrowed herself under the covers while Kael took the book in hand, instantly finding what he believed to be the passage Trixie dabbled in.

“You were in the general spells section I take, given the napkin as a bookmark?” Kael smirked as he removed a napkin with what appeared to be butter stains on it. It seemed that there was butter and bread before on the table, which Trixie must have polished off in her study session the night before.

“Yes…” Trixie grumbled, not really caring about the bookmark as she wallowed in self-pity. How could she be a magician if they wasn’t even a person?

Kael narrowed his eyes as he observed the glyphs on the text, “Polymorph,” he smiled as he realized what the page’s relevance was. The spell was either a perfect coincidence or the specific cause for the transformation, though something made Kael believe it to be the latter, “This spell doesn’t usually last more than a couple seconds it says, or a minute if you really know what you’re doing.”

“Well what does it do?”

“It morphs the target into an animal of some kind. The example given here is that of a sheep,” Kael smirked as he pointed the book at her, “You’re a different kind of furred animal it seems.”

That made Trixie poke her head out again for a moment of snark, partly to impose a reality check and partly to bring him down to her level of existential misery, “You’re a furred animal too, just one who walks on two legs instead of four.”

“That’s…” Kael tried to retort, only to find that he couldn’t find a good reason behind what he was going to say. He could say that Elves are smarter than animals, but the intelligence argument alone would not allow for the difference seemingly between them and animals like Trixie which seemed quite sapient despite not being bipedal animals, and while Kael wasn’t quite sure he knew of others he felt like there very well may be, “Well, I suppose you could be right. What does separate one from an animal?”

“This isn’t the time for philosophy Kael, fix me!”

Kael forcibly closed the book as he bent back in laughter. Trixie meant it as in fix her ailment, but there was a very different meaning for the word “fix” when it came to animals. Her obliviousness to this fact made it better for him, and as she spoke his laughter increased.

“What? What is so funny?”

Kael calmed himself to focus back on the task at hand. They needed to leave as soon as they possibly could, but finding a solution to Trixie’s problem first would make things easier for them later. Right now they might be able to replicate whatever made her change forms, something they might not be able to under different circumstances on the road.

“Oh, nothing, nothing at all,” Kael lied as he opened the book again and resumed reading right from where he left off, luckily turning right back to the main page concerning Polymorph.

Trixie pointed her Unicorn horn at him threateningly, “Then find a way to get me back to what you consider normal or I’ll make you as horny as I am.”

Little did she know that it would then send him into an entirely new laughing fit. In her mind, she seemed to be thinking her words meant she would impale him with her horn, but to Kael it brought up a very different subject which once again distracted him from studying her book for a cure.

Of course, Trixie did not appreciate being laughed at in any way, so she found herself flustered as she once again levied her hollow threat, “I mean it! I’ll put this in you if you don’t stop laughing at me!”

Not fully willing to test her temperament but also not believing she would go through with the action, Kael stopped his childish laughter and resumed studying the blue book, “Okay, okay…It seems hitting the afflicted person can reverse the process. Causing some form of pain.”

“Oh…” just the thought of that made Trixie wince, “How much pain?”

Kael still doubted that this was related to this spell based on the duration she was in either form, but it was worth a try…even if it meant hurting her to undo the possible effect she was under, “It’s not specific, so I guess we would have to test it out.”

Trixie moved a hoof outside of the warmth of the blankets and held it out towards Kael while looking in a different direction, away from where she would soon experience pain, “Pinch me.”

Kael relented and moved the short distance required to pinch Trixie’s hoof, his fingers tightening their grip slowly until she flinched in pain. No change occurred, which either meant she was previously polymorphed for an exorbitantly long amount of time into an Elf and that her real form was a pony or that this was not a matter dealing with polymorphing at all.

Trixie looked down to where she had been pinched, then down to her body, and she was not pleased with the lack of change. She had hoped to be an Elf again, not caring what was her true form so long as she could just be considered normal.

“That didn’t give me that oddly shaped body that’s so top heavy. Try something harder,” she commanded, her voice serious as she decided mentally that perhaps Kael had just not hurt her enough to change anything.

Kael felt his snickering on the verge of coming back, “Harder?”

“Yes, harder Kael!” she barked back, only for Kael to hang his head and sigh. She was either really clueless or a really efficient prankster, because Kael’s mind was going places he did not want it to.

“I think we need to have a discussion about your word usage later.”

Trixie did not care for her phrasing, she cared about becoming a two legged Elf again, “Can you just do this faster? I don’t want to be an Equestrian all day. I don’t like people making fun of me, and they most certainly will.”

“I think I’ll get it worse for having a horse sleep in my room.”

Trixie, once again, did not understand the implications, “Where else would it sleep? Out in the cold?”

Ignoring her, Kael pulled his arm back to prepare a punch, “Well, here it goes.”

To catch her off guard and inflict the maximum amount of pain without doing real damage though, Kael instead forced her outstretched hoof down and into the firm bedframe with his other hand and arm. This switch up did allow for pain to be inflicted, so much so that Trixie pulled her hoof back in and causing her to begin licking it where hurt and where she believed herself to have a splinter.

“Oww, I wasn’t ready for that! You need to be more gentle with a lady, Kael. Now try again, but softer,” after the pain in her hoof went away, Trixie held it back out while denying the possibility that this still wouldn’t work, “I’m ready for you to touch me.”

This, mentally, was the last straw for her companion who in that moment gave up on her ability to not say embarrassing things.

“Forgive her Elune, for she knows not what she says,” Kael whispered to the goddess he believed to have heard Trixie pray to, despite it not ringing a bell for him as a goddess she should be praying to. It felt like it belonged to something else, but his tired and distracted brain couldn’t explain the details to him.

Trixie in turn tried to correct him, believing him to be the one who was wrong and silly, “I think you mean Luna,” the look of confusion on Kael’s face in turn made Trixie confused, as she couldn’t explain her knowledge about this so called Luna but it felt intuitive, “Luna…the one who moves the moon every night and makes sure we don’t have nightmares. You haven’t heard of her?”

Despite being confused, Kael still was pleasantly surprised by what Trixie said. Anything regarding memories was welcome between the two of them, and so this was quite the opportunity, “No, I can’t say I have,” he waved his hand around to prod her to continue, “I think though that perhaps you are beginning to remember things without even realizing them. Tell me more of your mythology.”

Trixie tried to let her mouth keep talking without her brain interfering, doing it as if by muscle memory, “Luna’s sister is named Celestia and she controls the sun, and…” this didn’t carry her very far as the moment of revelation left her as soon as it came, leaving her with some vague feelings and ideas. In frustration she shook her head when she realized that the fountain of knowledge had forsaken her, “That’s it. I think there’s a god of mischief or something in there too, but I can’t say for certain.”

Her suddenly having entire memory back would be convenient, but Kael was by no means expecting it to actually happen. Piece by piece would be fine, “Well I think that is enough for now. You’ve only had a few days to remember after all,” he spoke supportively, not wanting Trixie to feel as if he was rushing her. This tangent expended, it was about time to return to the topic at hand…or hoof, as the case may be. After all, it may be the early hours of the morning, but every minute could end up being one they need in the end, “Now, I am thinking that perhaps you aren’t polymorphed since you aren’t changing back. That means this is your normal form if that is the case, or that you aren’t polymorphed. Do you remember anything more about last night?”

Trixie decided to relax herself on the bed, stealing Kael’s pillow to act as a substitute for him which she then placed her hooves around. She was exhausted, and she wanted to be at least rested if she was not to get any more actual sleep for the time being, “Well, I woke up at one point and sneezed. I think I hit my head against the back, then fell asleep again.”

“Fell asleep or were knocked out?” Kael the ever blunt inquisitor asked her, only to be rebuffed by a scoff.

“I, the great and powerful Trixie, would not knock herself out by sneezing!”

By trial and error, Kael could only really think of one last thing to try out on Trixie. With a glance to the table, he smirked in a way Reuenthal would be proud of given how it was a smile of realization that he might end up in some trouble.

“Let’s try something else then.”

Kael grabbed the pepper shaker off the table and moved to join Trixie on the bed. He fought to get on top of the pillow Trixie took from his side, and this done he held the device over her resting head.

Having noticed him get back up on the bed, Trixie cracked an eye open to look at what was hovering above her head, “What is that?”

“Pepper. It’s time to engage in a little science.”

Trixie blinked as she rolled over just in time for Kael to sprinkle some pepper over her face, “Sci-ah-ah-achooo!”

Her sneeze was like an explosion in how it rocked her head back forcibly and with a great deal of noise. When she was done with the powerful sneeze, Trixie narrowed her eyes at Kael and groaned.

“Jerk.”

Half on top of her and half beside her, Kael did his best to bow to her, “I hope you don’t hate me for it, my Elven friend.”

Trixie looked down at herself to find soft skin and no blue fur in sight except for a strand here or there on the purple sheets, “What the Hel?” Trixie ran her hands over herself to feel the change, only to realize that she was once again an Elf in every way, shape, and form, “How in Tartarus did you do that?”

“Science requires multiple tests. Time to try this again,” Kael said as he proved his theory. For whatever reason, one he hoped to discover through study one day, sneezing instigated her transformation.

To make absolutely sure though, of course he had to try again.

Trixie tried to grab the pepper container, only to catch another dose of the seasoning in the face, “Wait, I’m good now—”

Trixie found herself instantly a horse again, noticing that a purple flash happened at just the same moment she closed her eyes to sneeze. It seemed to be her color, given her eyes and now this.

A horse once again, Trixie glowered at her companion who seemed to be having the time of his life having solved this issue, “I hate you.”

Kael moved to put the pepper in his pocket, seeing it as a useful method of controlling Trixie’s body transformations. So pleased by his discoveries, he forgot that he left her in her equine form, “I think we should take this pepper with us.”

Trixie sneezed again from the leftover pepper, at which point she used one arm to pull the blanket around herself and the other to start grabbing at Kael’s hand where the pepper lay.

“Give it to me!”

Kael would have just considered it playful, and the way her voice was yelling was more in faux anger than real anger. She was embarrassed, but she was happy to have this under control. They could deal with the ramifications of her being a horse person now that they could control it all.

But Trixie had rolled to be on top of him, with only Kael’s ruined clothing and a blanket in-between them. Not only this, in her attempt to grab at the pepper shaker Trixie had ended up straddling him, causing the color to drain from his face as he tried to keep the shaker out of her reach. Given the way he forced her to inhale it, he had little doubt she would abuse and waste it on his own face at some point should he let her have it.

Not that Kael would be much better, but he’d rather not have her waste their one easy way of snapping her between forms in some ill form of revenge.

“Trixie, stop it!” Kael commanded harshly as she continued to try and fight for the pepper. Every movement though made him less worried about the pepper and more worried about another rising issue.

“I said give it to me! I’m not some toy for your amusement!” Trixie commanded back before sticking her tongue out at him.

“It’s not that, you’re—”

With a sigh, Kael just let go of the pepper and let Trixie take it. This done, she smiled to herself as she stopped moving around on top of him.

“There, all better.”

Realizing that one of her hands was still on the blanket surrounding her, Trixie looked back to find that her clothes still rested at the end of the bed. This made her blush as she realized that perhaps, by Kael’s standards, she had been quite indecent. Being an equine though freed her from some of the care about such standards, yet she still wanted to maintain a decent enough appearance. It wouldn’t do to get into bad habits here.

“Oh, I should probably put those back on.”

Kael could not agree more, though he tried his best not to move, “Trixie, please, get off me.”

Trixie rolled her eyes as she moved over to where her clothes were so she could start the process of putting them on again, “Okay, I’ll get off. Don’t see what the big deal was that made you so bothered.”

Free of his unwitting tormentor, Kael whispered to himself, “How am I ever going to survive like this…”

“Also, I think you wound up with a stick in your pants last night when we were going through the woods. I need to change, so you should fix your wood issue.”

Kael let his body fall completely prone on the bed, not even knowing what to say back to that.

“I promise I won’t look,” Kael finally said after Trixie took her clothes and the purple blanket with her, the woman leaving to a corner of the room which he diverted his gaze from completely, “Aren’t you worried at all about what happened yesterday? About…”

Her response was surprisingly somber, her voice even quaking as she tried to muster the words to convey her feelings, “I would…I rather…not think about that.”

Her voice gave Kael pause, and a quick glance at her revealed that she had already managed to pull all her clothes on in what must be record time. Her head was lowered though, and Kael could see her struggling to not cry.

“I don’t want to think that friends have passed away so soon after meeting them. I want to think that somehow they’re fine. That the people in the city are fine.”

Trixie turned back to him with watering eyes, her mouth curled up in a sad smile.

“Can’t I have that?”

All the playful energy in the amnesiac prince present moments ago was replaced with the despair that some of the only people they knew may be dead. Dead because of an evil version of Kael himself, who may even be the true prince. They could play around and kid themselves, but nothing would change the reality of their situation.

Kael rose from the bed to approach Trixie, who didn’t move away from him as he approached. She was actually hurt by the loss, and pain was etched onto her face behind her fake smile.

Not caring if it came off as more than platonic, Kael brought Trixie in for a hug and let her rest her head against his chest and shoulder, “Of course you may,” he brought a consoling hand down her back just like he had in her other form, but despite the gesture he made sure to not let this distract them from their goal which Reuenthal and Mitter’meyer bought possibly with their lives, “However, we still need to worry about our own safety. I am grateful that…man didn’t follow us with his forces, but we don’t know if he will return and do so. We should get as far away from here as we can for the time being.”

No response came other than a feeling of wetness welling on his shirt, to which Kael spoke again in concern.

“Trixie?”

It was one thing to almost lose her own life her first day in Azeroth. It was another to lose someone else, “They’re okay, right?”

“I…I can’t promise that.”

The uncertainty of his statement led to Trixie’s mind wandering to other sorts of possibilities and what ifs, all of which she found amusing in comparison to the current topic, “I wonder what they’d have thought if I sneezed when we were eating...”

Kael did not even know what to say to cheer her up, but he was glad he was with her. If she was alone she undoubtedly would be far more devastated by the possible loss, “Trixie…”

Trixie released herself and stepped away so she could have space to shake her head and gather herself. After a moment she clenched her fists and took a deep breath in, at which point she turned back to face him with a more genuine, determined smile, “Let’s get going. I don’t want to waste any time.”

That was more like the Trixie Kael found himself falling for, though he couldn’t deny that part of her charm was that she was most definitely gentler than most of the other people to be found in Azeroth. She seemed to work on an entirely different level, even shunning common violence in favor of kindness and cunning.

Before Kael could get out of his own thoughts Trixie moved over to the bed with a big smirk on her face, her hands gripping the purple material, “Wait…I have an idea…”

What did she have on her mind this time? It wasn’t as if they had bags to carry such a large cloth after all…

Author's Note

A/N: Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the fluff-fest to counterbalance the angst of last chapter. In any case, please leave your thoughts in the comments below, and know that your comments are what helps me write so much :heart:

Level 9-10: Mile High Club

A/N: Special thanks to SilentMech, refferee, GamerGoddessNayru, Ozymandias, Ketvirtas, and nioniosbbbb for the comments last chapter! They are very much appreciated, and I hope to hear from you and even more this chapter.

I hope you all enjoy, and I hope to hear from all of you in the comments below!

Kael found himself carrying everything, including the now folded up purple sheet, as Trixie approached the only other Elves awake in the early morning at the settlement. Kael would have liked to stay and talk with some of the people around, but he was the one more worried about leaving so he silenced his inner curiosity. This seemed like a good place for one to launch one’s journey from, and he was sad to be leaving it behind.

Trixie, however, was quite ready to not be dealing with other people. She was still rattled a bit by transforming back and forth from a furred creature to an Elf, as well as what that meant about herself. It wasn’t just Kael now questioning who he was, for Trixie now was worried that perhaps she wasn’t like every other Elf either.

Well, of course she wasn’t, she was The Great and Powerful Trixie and far better than all the other plebeians (facts be damned), but that was beside the point.

Two women stood outside the inn chatting with one another in hushed voices when Trixie exited it with Kael in tow. It was fortunate for the two magicians that his face was covered completely by the large blanket folded and sitting atop his arms, though it almost made him fall off the spiral staircase they had to go down to meet the others who were awake.

“Excuse me, we are looking to travel and escape the drama in this area. May you find us a vehicle or pack animal to aid us on our journey?”

One of the women, whose features Trixie could not make out due to a combination to their full armor and the darkness, rose a hand in response. Their words however were a combination of sadness and apology.

“I am the flightmaster here, but I am afraid I have but one Dragonhawk left, and its flightpath is limited to the point of uselessness. The elder, more trained ones perished yesterday as we attempted to combat the Fel Horde.”

Fel Horde…Trixie assumed that they meant the Orcs, though the lack of mention of Kael’thas was good. If they didn’t have Kael’thas on the mind, perhaps they wouldn’t pay much attention to the handsome Elf she had carrying her things in addition to his own. She’d feel guilty if not for the fact that she was doing the talking in this journey for the most part, so for things to be equal he needed to pull a different kind of weight.

So long as it did not go north, Trixie didn’t really care where the Dragonhawk went. She assumed it to be the orange-yellow being floating beside the woman who spoke, the beast previously having been perched on the ground and thus not noticed by Trixie in the darkness. Its faintly glowing eyes reminded Trixie much of its owner’s own pair, and from there Trixie could observe a very impressive beast. Its serpentlike body stretched on to be as long as she expected a full grown (not miniature, like herself) horse to be, with an impressive wingspan beside it that had been hidden before when it was curled up on the ground.

Still determined to leave her starting zone for the safety of her friend, Trixie decided to ignore the ‘uselessness’ of the Dragonhawk.

“Where will it take us?”

Despite wearing armor over her face, the Elf’s eyes shined out of the helmet and Trixie could make out the expression of a glower as they stared down at their animal, “It only knows Alliance lands, such as Westfall, Elwynn Forest, and Duskwood. We were allies with the Humans when we began its training, and there has not been time in recent months to retrain it.”

Alliance? That meant the Humans from what Trixie could recall about what she had learned up to that point. It seemed the lore of the land would come a piece at a time. Humans didn’t like Elves…but she didn’t need to actually be around the Humans. She just needed to not be here. She could travel there with Kael and lay low until they could figure out enough to not get him executed for treason or something of the like. Perhaps get him a haircut and make him grow a goatee.

Trixie found herself wondering about what Kael would look like with a blonde goatee, and perhaps a moustache as well. Heck, she even felt like she had seem something similar before, but couldn’t put a picture to the thought about why.

It took one of the other women clearing their throat to rouse Trixie from her thoughts of Kael and facial hair.

“Very well, which of these regions has the least dangerous foes?”

“Elwynn forest, but it is directly adjacent to the Human capital, so Westfall is the safest…” the Flightmaster was baffled. Someone wanted to go to Human territory? Were they unintelligent or a traitor? “You would adventure to such a dangerous area?”

“A breathe of fresh air,” Trixie countered as she brought a hand back to point at her partner, “We can manage.”

On a normal day, the Flightmaster would laugh off such a request, but it wasn’t as if she cared that much about why someone would be so foolish. She had lost all of her pets and companions sans one a day prior to a brutal Orcish attack, and she had the misfortune of only being able to save and heal one of them…the most worthless one. She’d be busy training a whole new batch of others to replace those lost, and in the meantime this one would just distract her from her efforts with the others.

It did not mean she wanted to lose it, but she wouldn’t be as hurt if it didn’t come back like some of her others. For this reason, along with apathy, she waved a hand and sighed as she ushered the beast towards Trixie, “The Dragonhawk will bring you to the edge of that territory then. You will have to find passage to wherever you want to go after that.”

That was enough. Trixie didn’t have a destination in mind other than ‘not here’, so it could drop them off literally wherever and she would be fine, “Of course.”

Kael would protest about going into enemy territory if not for the fact that staying in allied territory could mean he would be lynched from citizens, hunted by the military, hunted by his double, hunted by that forsaken Hunter who seemed to want his head for a bounty, or other situations in which his wellbeing would be put at risk. At least he could be around enemies and expect nothing but the worst, while he could no longer trust anyone outside of Trixie, Mitter’meyer, his wife, and Reuenthal…should any of them be alive.

It was then that the other woman spoke up finally, her voice full of cheer as she took the role of an oily salesman, “You two will be needing to travel quite some ways to return. You will need to have ground mounts should you desire to do so swiftly.”

Trixie could tell that she was about to be offered something to buy, so she quickly found a way around revealing she had no money, “I do not believe we can transport horses over…” she waved a hand at the Dragonhawk, “That.”

This did little to deter the opportunistic woman, “Oh, of course not, but a magician powerful enough can summon one with the right training, and dispirit it the same way. I sell such magic and training, as well as Hawkstriders for you to ride upon.”

Oh great, a Stablemaster or something of the like Trixie surmised. Just what she needed to think about…

She diverted her mind from horse thoughts to the unfamiliar word used by the saleswoman/stablemaster, “Hawkstriders?”

It was their turn to do show and tell, and so the woman pointed to the edge of the settlement where a crowd of two legged animals with round, feathered bodies stood. Their necks were long as were their legs, giving Trixie the impression that these were like mountable Ostriches, “Just as fast as a horse, while taking up less space. Much more graceful beings than those Human owned beasts.”

Not exactly proud of her other self, yet still feeling insulted, Trixie balked at the statement and crossed her arms angrily.

“I will have you know that equines are not simple beasts, but beautiful, intelligent creatures!”

This outburst actually caught the two other women off-guard, though it came Kael a moment to clear his throat. He was passive and would let Trixie take the lead, but he wasn’t about to let her use her speaking role to possible alienate the group that was about to let them take a ride out of this place.

Realizing this, Trixie steeled herself and took a breathe in to calm down. They were simpletons who didn’t know better…they had no idea that she was a horse, so they can’t be expected to be polite when speaking about the mount of an opposed race…

“Sorry. I am…fond of horses. Particularly ponies.”

Her explanation for her behavior not only explained a cause for her reaction, but also turned the surprised duo into a pair of laughing friends. They used eachother to stand up as the Flightmaster fought to maintain a composed look despite snickering, while the Stablemaster took to a fit of laughter.

“Hah, I bet you wanna go and marry some prince too and live in a big ol’ castle!” she bent down as she realized just how stereotypically feminine a statement had been said, “Seriously, how old are you?”

“I…” Trixie realized she couldn’t back away from her previous statement, as well as that she had no idea what her own age was. She appeared younger than almost all the women she had come across, though she didn’t feel like a child. A young adult?

She shook her head to remove the line of thinking. It didn’t matter. She was independent, and she was doing this no matter what. She could do what she wanted, and she wasn’t going to let people laugh at her! “That doesn’t matter! And so what if I believe myself worthy of a prince? My private life is not of your concern. I only wish to leave this place before anything else crazy happens.”

Kael wanted to cough again and point out that he was a prince, and he might have had he been alone with Trixie, but he kept quiet because of the company they held.

The Flightmaster jabbed a thumb over at the Dragonhawk, which had been patiently hovering above the ground next to them the entire conversation without going anywhere, “Yeah, yeah. Normally I’d charge gold for a ride, but we’re supposed to do the trips around here for nothing. Since the guy who collects the gold is dead now, I’ll let this one go for free.”

Free was good, especially since Trixie hadn’t even considered the fact that she might need money. Money she didn’t have in any capacity…and totally hadn’t been planning to borrow from Mitter’meyer until everything went to Hel at Silvermoon.

“Thank you. Now, how do I ride this thing?”

“Just climb on the saddle it is wearing,” the woman’s apathy continued to show as she gave a bored yawn, “I’m not supposed to let people go two at a time, but have fun. The guy who does the safety regulations has an axe in his neck right not, so he’s not going to argue.”

Trixie wanted to be thankful that she had the opportunity for a free ride away, but even she could realize that expressing any joy at the circumstances was too soon…

It took some time, but eventually both Kael and Trixie found a way to strap themselves in to the Dragonhawk’s seat worn on its back…the solution being Trixie sitting on top of Kael, and the securing methods going over here. This of course made things awkward for Kael, but the issue was helped by Trixie falling asleep almost instantly after taking flight.

Her falling asleep despite the up and down of the Dragonhawk’s movement was because of a combination of both her tiredness and her sudden realization that she didn’t want to look down at the ground they were flying dozens if not hundreds of feet over.

Her sleeping made Kael more, but not completely, comfortable for the ride because it meant she stopped shifting around and being a general nuisance. Truth be told, he too was afraid of heights he realized once they actually were taken off the ground, though he steeled himself to be awake for the ride. It wouldn’t do if he fell asleep too and they both fell off the blasted beast which was flying way too high for his tastes.

He took to looking at the map provided to them by Reuenthal previously, and to his delight it actually had some detail. The map seemed to display an explored area, with the words “The Deadmines” wrote on the lower section of the area they were headed to known as “Westfall”. Westfall was basically on the exact opposite side of the continent, being in the south west (as its name partially implied) while Silvermoon City was in the north eastern area called “Everson Woods”, with Fairbreeze Village slightly to its south.

Kael knew he should take more care and mentally look over what he passed over more, but in the end he only managed to spare glimpses of what was below him. Some of the land about halfway through the long flight was ground that appeared blackened, much like the “Dead Scar” Reuenthal had made note of by Silvermoon. Skeletal beings with varying levels of flesh roamed the land, and Kael could see some of them even engaging in what appeared to be civilization, but by the time he took more note of the situation it was gone.

Further down he flew over a mountain in a region he believed to be known as the “Burning Steppes”, though at that point some of Trixie’s sleeping movements drew his attention. She had begun to wake up, though was not quite there yet, and so she was constantly shifting around after what Kael realized was a full day’s flight. The night was already setting, and they had set out right when the day started. Why couldn’t a flight like this take five or less minutes, he pondered, curious as to why no-one had come up with a better method of transportation yet. It took some restraint, and by some it was really a godly amount, but he managed to not disturb Trixie’s sleep in any manner while also making sure she didn’t start rolling off the creature.

When she did wake up though they were just passing the edge of what Kael realized with the help of the map to be “Stormwind City”, a large, sprawling structure that looked like an extended castle or keep. And when she woke up, she first yawned and then next gave Kael a near heart attack.

She took breath in through her nose and moved to cover it with one of her delicate hands.

Realizing that she was about to sneeze, Kael brought a hand over her face and squeezed her nose. This was not the time for her to transform, and given that they were a few hundred feet in the air Kael did not want to try out the “slow fall” spell he had looked at briefly in his own book over the flight, along with others like “Fireball”, when not perusing the map. Anything to keep himself from looking down at the ground.

“Don’t do it,” Kael warned, though the groggy Trixie couldn’t really comprehend his words just yet.

“Ahhh…” she slowly started, her voice modified because of her tightly clenched nose.

The fact that even though he was closing her nasal passage, admittedly hard enough to hurt because they were in danger, Kael realized that she was still about to sneeze.

“Trixie, we will die. Don’t you dare.”

Trixie’s head moved back as her body prepared to sneeze forcefully, “Ahhhhhhhh….”

Her head moving back made her hit Kael in his nose, causing him to curse loudly as he reached to grab his aching nose. This freed Trixie’s head of his clasp though, at which point Trixie let out a big breath.

“Phew,” she rubbed her crunched nose with one hand, “See? I’m fine—chooo!”

Her sneeze was followed by a purple flash, and Kael felt the buckle binding them snap instantly. Realizing that this would be the case though, Kael wrapped his legs tightly around the Dragonhawk right before her sneeze to clench it and keep hold, while his arms did the same to Trixie. Her body shifted forms and nearly forced his arms apart, but fortunately she was not big enough for him to not reach all the way around. The Dragonhawk squawked with its beak at the sudden change in weight for its passengers, and it began to plummet the moment Trixie’s weight crashed down on its back.

Trixie flailed with her front hooves for a bit before seizing up entirely and curling up as much as possible in fear. With her having no hands to do what was necessary, Kael was forced to grab the best grip he could with one hand on her while using the other to pull out something he stole from the inn earlier from his bag.

“Pepper!” he shouted as he shoved it between Trixie’s hooves, not being able to reach her face on his own and not thinking in the moment to just wave it upwards. Trixie fortunately managed to clench it between her front hooves as they continued to plummet downward while the Dragonhawk fought to stay up in the air.

Trixie shoved the pepper container in front of her nose and shook it as violently as she could. It took not a moment more for her to sneeze, and suddenly the descent ended as the Dragonhawk finally managed to go upwards instead of downwards.

The flight leveled out after a few moments, though the seemingly exhausted Dragonhawk began to angle itself at landing down at a nearby shore. Neither Kael nor Trixie could blame it, especially after all of the flying from the day, and so they let it touch down. Even after it gently landed though they stayed on top just a minute longer, each of the anxiety filled Elves nearly hyperventilating from how close they had come to dying.

Kael had looked. There had been about ten feet left until they hit the ground when they finally went up. Trixie had still been in her sitting position despite the change in form, and while this did not make her unable to look down it did help her decide to just look forward during the fall.

It took a little while, but Trixie realized something: first, her robes were loosened after stretching suddenly and by a bit. Second, and more importantly, Kael was still gripping part of her tightly. She did not know much about Elven customs, but she had not seen any males grabbing females there, so she could presume in addition to making her uncomfortable that it was also taboo.

“Kael, I don’t think you should be grabbing there.”

“Sorry, but…” Kael blushed as he removed his hand from her torso. She hadn’t exactly had all of herself in the same places when he grabbed ahold of her, and he hadn’t really noticed the change when he tried to calm himself down.

Trixie felt her face flushing red, but she tried to ignore it. Why was she tingling? This body was surely weird…

“It’s okay. If you didn’t grab me I’d have fallen off and died. Just forget about it.”

Kael could agree to that, being quite embarrassed that he hadn’t thought ahead. Wanting to move on, he decided to bring up another subject, “That was too close…I don’t think we should ride these such lengthy distances in the future.”

Trixie couldn’t help but feel as if it was all her fault, which in many ways it was, though it wasn’t something she could help yet, “Sorry…”

Kael brought a hand to her exposed shoulder, its purple robe hanging slightly off it just to the side of her, “It’s fine…” with his other hand he brought it to her hip and began to help her off the Dragonhawk, “We were at the end anyways.”

Trixie’s legs just began to wake up from her long sleep and so she stumbled a bit as she got off the creature, Kael following suit at a faster pace since he had already been awake and had been moving his legs back and forth to find better ways to not penetrate Trixie’s sleep. Once both of them were off of it, the Dragonhawk squawked again and then took flight, seemingly not caring to hang around them any longer.

“That, or it just wants to get rid of us,” Trixie snorted. She decided she was not very fond of the animals, since her back really hurt and she was sticky with sweat because of the sudden adrenaline rush. Sure, she caused it, but if it was a better mount it wouldn’t be a problem. Why couldn’t she just ride a dragon or something more…suitable for a mare?

“The map seems to show that this is the right place…I think we’re good.”

Trixie snatched the map from him, her mind too jittery to be polite, “Let me see.”

It didn’t take her long to find the same spot on the gigantic map Kael had been gripping tightly on the flight. The continent was shaped like a jigsaw, messed up rectangle of sorts that was larger in height than it was width.

While Trixie began to study it, Kael excused himself to wash himself with the nearby seawater. Yes, he knew it would smell bad later, but he needed to get his filthy robes cleaned before they moved on any further. He did not even know how he managed to ignore them up to this point, especially with that torturous ride he just was on. Trixie took no notice as he completely emerged himself and them into the water, for which he was grateful.

Moving her gaze up the map, Trixie continued to not notice his absence at her side, even going so far as to reach back and try to grab his arm to get his attention before just calling out his name and explaining why.

“Let’s conquer Stormwind!”

Stormwind. Human capital city. If Kael didn’t feel so good for the first time since he woke up, he would have scoffed in an abrasive manner instead of a joking one.

“As if.”

Trixie glanced back towards him, only to notice him in the water with his clothes floating a few feet away, and so she looked back down to the map. Then she shot her eyes back to find that all their other stuff was safe on shore and not soaking alongside her friend, and so she regained some of her calmness as she continued to explain her insane plan, “It can’t be that hard. Elves have magic, but I bet not all Humans do. We get strong enough to fight, get about forty people, approach them from the port the map says they are building, attack from a landing ship by coming around at sea, and then tadaa, Human peons! Then we own both ends of a continent, and everyone in-between will be pincered and eventually be forced to serve our greatness.”

“Where do we get these forty people? And why forty?” Kael laughed as he relaxed in the waters, “Trixie.”

For that she had no real answer, so she repeated her previous statement as if on loop, “…We get strong enough to fight, get about forty people—”

By this point Kael began pulling on his soaked, yet no longer grime infused, clothes, and as he did so he started to leave the water and head for Trixie (after his pants were of course secure).

“Enough of that nonsense, we have bigger matters to handle,” when he got to Trixie his tattered and dripping wet shirt was slung over his shoulder. He reached over her far shoulder to point down at the map with a finger he knew to be dry, “This map actually has detailed notes from Reuenthal, so I take it he has been here before. There are Human farms all over this region, and he marked the coastline with X’s and the word Murgle…” he paused as he thought about what that actually meant, only to come up with a complete blank, “What in the Sunwell is a Murgle?”

Trixie tried pronouncing the word down on the page, though she had some difficulty reading it because of her newness to the language, “Mrglegle?”

“No, I think you only say it with one gle,” Kael corrected, only for Trixie to shove the map in her robes chest compartment, it being her largest “pocket”, and then pointing towards the flat plains that lay away from the shore.

“Murgle-murgle-murgle, I don’t care, let’s just find a place to camp.”

Kael paused as his eyes caught Trixie staring at his bare chest. He hadn’t intended to give her eye candy, but he supposed the muscle and tone could be seen as impressive. He did nothing to deter her gaze, though after a moment she removed it. What was she thinking while looking at him? He did not know, but a large part of him really cared to know.

To break the silence Kael thought best to bring up something that had been on his mind the past few hours, albeit in the back of it, “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

Trixie scoffed at the mention of food even as her stomach began to rumble audibly, “What are you going to do, ask the Humans?”

“Well, the date on the map seems to be after Humans turned on our kind, yet he took notes of the region. My bet is that the Humans here are either more friendly or that there is a population of Elves not associated with our kind that look similar enough that he was mistaken for one. It also might be helped that he is half-Human.”

As soon as Kael finished his explanation about how it might be possible for them to acquire food Trixie’s stomach spoke up again, this time loud enough for the man to laugh at her expense once more.

“…you want bread?” Kael snickered, his gaze falling to her stomach.

Trixie brought a hand over her gut, not really liking that her skinny body felt so hungry. She knew the reason for it though, not that it helped matters at all, “I am eating for two after all.”

Once again, her word choice brought some confusion to Kael, “Two being…”

Trixie crossed her arms angrily, suddenly beginning to pout as the morning’s revelation came to mind, “Myself and my other, much larger stomach! Don’t make me say it out loud.”

Oh. She meant her horse stomach. That was better than what Kael was thinking.

He voiced exactly this sentiment as relief washed over him like the water had before, “Better than what I was thinking. I was going to question how it was possible, since we’ve had our clothes on, though there were times I was passed out…”

Trixie’s confused glance made him realize that once more this was all going over her head, and he would rather keep it that way, so Kael tried to change the subject again.

He pointed a finger in a way that the map showed to be south, “But onto the matter at hand, or rather hoof, how about we head this way until we find someone who’s awake and willing to take us in? If not, they are only farmers. We can just run away with the speed of a horse.”

His statement made Trixie apprehensive, given the assumption the statement had, “Wait, you don’t intend to…”

Kael patted Trixie on the shoulder as he laughed, “Oh I fully do, though you may draw some attention…”

It only made sense that they would use her transforming quality to its logical advantage. As a horse she could move faster than they could on foot, and it would keep Kael’s own legs fresh. She could also likely carry things better than he could, so with the right setup it made perfect sense for him to ride her as they traveled. She might think it mean or unfair, but the way he saw it she could carry things now, and he would later provide servants to carry things for her…given that he was, after all, a prince it seemed. Not to mention that he had just been forced to make sure nothing fell off during the entire flight, which was quite the task, and he was glad he had been provided a bag for the blanket before the trip by the Flightmaster.

Trixie kept up her façade of anger, not wanting to admit that it made sense and instead trying to find an issue with whatever she could, “Draw some attention? There must be a million horses. In this one instance I am not one in a million.”

“You’re blue,” Kael retorted snarkily, already knowing he had won the conversation before it really began. Trixie could be haughty and on occasion obnoxious, but she could tell what made sense and what didn’t, and she’d give in to reason if he pressed enough against her stubbornness.

“And able to talk, yet you don’t seem to be minding that part,” Trixie noted, given that a talking horse was most certainly an uncommon one. Even if she was strange, she still was at least unique. There was no chance that there were more like her, or at least enough to really matter since her being a small horse was most certainly out of place in this setting.

“You’re a Unicorn too,” Kael smiled, now bringing a hand up to pat Trixie’s flat forehead. There would be a horn there if she transformed, though Kael began to wonder what it would be like to see her with the horn in this form. It certainly was a sleeping hazard, so perhaps they could find a solution to it. For now though he would sleep with his head at the other side of the bed, just in case she changed forms in the middle of the night again.

“Why yes, I am, at least some of the time…” Trixie grumbled, not seeing the use for the horn. What was she to do, stab people with it? That was disgusting. Imagine what it would feel like to have a sharp horn pierce your body! Trixie internally groaned at the idea of having a horn go through her.

Seeing as Trixie had admitted to her other form’s features, Kael was ready to hit her with his solution to their transportation method, “So…”

Despite everything Trixie did not want to just go and let him make this point. Sure, it made sense, but she wasn’t just some pack animal. She turned around to face him and shot him a frightening glare, “Don’t you dare say it.”

Kael wondered if he had a problem, or if it was just a thing, because he found her angry, pouting face to be adorable, “Oh come now Trixie, buying the official training and registration for using a mount is expensive it sounds like, and I’d bet purchasing one is just as expensive. At least this way, with you being my mount, we both can travel far quicker than we otherwise would be able to without paying twice the hefty fee!”

“Hmmph,” Trixie spun around and crossed her arms again. It took a moment, but she couldn’t argue with him. They weren’t rolling in cash, and she could be trusted not to buck him off…provided he behaved while on top of her, “But call me that one more time and you won’t be mounting anything for the rest of your life.”

“So you’ll do it?”

The response was a mumble, bringing both exasperation and amusement to Kael. Her stubbornness was cute, but it also was time consuming, time that could be spent consuming food, which he hadn’t eaten all day or the night before.

“Trixie, would you rather walk around all night and not get any food, or would you rather take advantage of this blessing while we can and eat some warm bread?”

She gave in finally at the promise of warm bread, “It’s better than having to bring around a horse wherever we go, even if I do have to do all the work…”

Trixie took the pepper and used just enough to make herself sneeze, transforming her into a horse instantly. Kael got his first real good look at her as an equine, seeing as the other times had seen her had been while she was under the covers or falling to their shared death, and he was quite pleased with what he saw. She was big enough to carry him and her stuff, but she wasn’t very big at all. She was a pony, not a real horse, and she was adorable. Her mane was even in the same shape her hair normally took, that of a curve all to one side with a lot hanging down in the back as well, and it even was the same color. Her blue fur also felt soft he remembered from when he grabbed her, and he really just wanted to pet her.

Was it alright to want to pet the person you have emotional feelings for? Was it alright if they also happened to be a horse? Was it okay to like a horse? She was also an Elf…though Kael had a gut feeling her real body was the four legged one.

It took a little bit of work, but Kael managed to set up the giant purple blanket from the inn to act as a skirt and cape all around Trixie. Others might think it odd to dress a horse in such a way, but it covered more of her than she otherwise would have covered, and though Trixie didn’t care much for modesty (being, as Kael thought, a natural pony), Kael didn’t want others looking at her in a scandalous way…or other horses to do so either.

Once she was covered, Kael got on top of her with their remaining stuff. With him straddling her with his legs, Trixie grunted. She was officially a pack animal, “One joke though about riding me and your dynasty ends here.”

Kael couldn’t tell if she meant riding or…riding, but her expected the former given who it was, though he wasn’t entirely sure.

“Challenge accepted, but no promises,” he laughed as he thought about the possibility of her following through with her threat, and the obvious side-effects that would have, “I wouldn’t want you regretting anything later,” he whispered afterwards.

Trixie heard him, though she wasn’t sure if she heard him right, “What?”

“Nothing, lets get going!”

Trixie refused to move before she decided to do so, and so she looked back at Kael as he moved his arms to get a grip around her neck. The feeling around her throat felt weird, but she ignored it as she glowered at him, “You’re loving this, aren’t you?”

“You carrying everything, including me? Yes, I would say I am loving just about everything.”

Trixie scoffed as she began to begin her trot. It felt both weird and natural as she moved, and she was at least comfortable in the night air because of the purple sheet covering her, with her actual clothes now stored where the blanket had been kept, “At least I thought ahead about the blanket…”

“Carrying that thing was tiring all these hours, but I think it’s worth it for your own modesty,” Kael admitted before sliding off her and readjusting it. His first knot around her neck had been poor, so he had to fix it lest the makeshift skirt-cape fly off with the breeze instead of cover her down to her mid-leg.

“Just mount me and get it over with already. You better not make me late to eating.”

“Trixie…” Kael sighed as she once again failed to grasp the connotations of her language. Did she not grow up with a parent to tell her what she was saying?

“This better be a short trip. Seriously, I hope it doesn’t take long for you to get off—”

Kael actually grabbed the top and bottom of her muzzle to force it shut, not sure if he could keep himself calm if she kept spouting so many (hopefully) accidental innuendos, “Just be quiet and trot.”

“Don’t you dare kick my side like they do in movies.”

“What’s a movie?”

“I…don’t know. Ignore that.”

It took a half hour of wandering around the plains, but the duo eventually were met with the nice sight of civilization when they saw a farm that had lights on in its house. Before approaching it Trixie transformed back into her Elven body and joined Kael in sneaking around to what they thought to be the side so they could peer in.

Plan: see if they were nice, and hopefully then test their kindness by knocking on the door and seeing if they would be invited in. If they were chased away with pitchforks, fine, they would call it a night and possibly loot some food from the mean farmers later. If they weren’t chased away, that was a good thing, and they would be grateful guests…and not steal any blankets and pepper this time.

While preparing to peer into the window of the wide house, a man walked out of a door they hadn’t noticed yet and turned right to them. He hadn’t been coming outside to see them apparently as he seemed surprised at the sight of them, though he didn’t run away or take any hostile action. Instead he gave them a bright smile as he lifted up a lantern to shine light on the area they were creeping.

“Welcome, my High Elven friends! I am Farmer Saldean. What brings you to our farm this day?”

Trixie stood up quickly to hide how scared she was, and she launched directly into conversation to prevent Kael from speaking. If they spoke at the same time they would seem awkward or suspicious since she doubted they would say the same thing.

“We are adventurers who are simply passing through when we noticed the lights.”

The farmer, Saldean, nodded as he continued to smile politely at them, “Oh, of course! We get visitors now and again, but they are usually from Stormwind. The Defias bandits around here usually scare away anyone else.”

Kael rose an eyebrow as he lowered the red scarf off his face and onto his neck. He probably looked like a bandit with it on he reckoned, so taking it off was likely prudent, “You have a bandit issue?”

“Yes, though they have begun to quiet down the past couple years,” the farmer looked as if he was about to sigh as he looked around the darkness for a moment, but he changed it instead into a smile again as he gestured to the open door of his home, “But that’s neither here nor there. Why don’t you two join us for the night? I would hate to let two visitors to our home stay out in the cold, especially since you don’t know who sneaks around in the dark these days!”

Seeing as how things went perfectly, Trixie was not about to test her luck, and so she instantly accepted. She didn’t know what the heck a High Elf was, and neither did Kael, but she’d pretend to be one if it got her food and a bed. She bowed while introducing herself back, “Thank you for the generous offer. I am Trixie Lulamoon, and this is my companion Kael’thas.”

Kael bowed right after Trixie introduced him, though he was worried that perhaps the Human would know his name’s importance…though the lack of instant reaction to it made his fears dissapitate. Good. He wasn’t in danger.

Trixie made her way inside, but before Kael could follow suit a noise caught his attention.

“Mrglmrg—!”

“Shhhh!” came a forced whisper as the other, much more odd noise disappeared. Things went silent after that, causing Kael to turn to the farmer who still was standing there out of politeness for his new guest.

“What was that?” Kael asked, not sure what that was, but it sounded like the noise sketched on the map.

The farmer finally frowned and shook his head, “Some of the—” he stopped complaining as his eyes caught sight of something out in the field by the farmhouse, “Oh, Hope! It’s about time to come in for supper. I was just about to go looking for you!”

Kael turned around to find himself suddenly face to face with a teenage girl wearing a grey shirt and skirt with white going down the front of the skirt and also showing from her undershirt. Her hair was lengthy and hung over one side of her face, though it curled about three quarters down her face and was not completely straight.

When had she gotten right beside him? Kael hadn’t noticed a thing, and that crept him out despite the kind smile on her face.

The farmer grinned as light shone off his own bald head, one of his hands extended out towards the new arrival, “This is my daughter, Hope. She’s pretty independent for a teenager, but she always comes back home right when we want her to.”

Her voice was a bit rough for a child, but Kael could tell that she was definitely in her teenage years overall. Firstly, she wasn’t as tall as she might otherwise be, and secondly…well he wouldn’t process the second part due to her age. He really ought not to think about a young girl that way, especially since he had the clueless Trixie to ogle to his heart’s content.

“You shouldn’t wear red bandanas around here, sir. Some might get the wrong idea,” she suggested as she gestured to what lay around his neck, though as soon as she said this she had moved on and gone inside like Trixie had.

Her father laughed and gave Kael a comforting pat on the shoulder, “Oh don’t mind her. How about we go inside and join our loved ones?”

Kael blushed at the assumption made, given that it was quite correct, “You are too kind, sir.”

“You can just call me William, though if you insist on being polite Mr. Saldean will do! We welcome all to our home so long as they are in need of it, so feel free to stay as long as you like!”

After a moment, the farmer turned back to the field and nodded towards it.

“I am a farmer though, and there’s always work to do, so any help you might be able to give me and those around here would be most welcome.”

Kael bowed to the man once again before they both went inside, “I will do everything I can to repay your kindness, sir.”

Perhaps…well, perhaps not all Humans were terrible after all.

Neither Trixie nor Kael knew much about the conflict between the Horde and the Alliance, but for now they were grateful they had a place to stay. They were as far as they could get away from where they had been, for sadly before they had even grown comfortable in their own land they were forced from it.

Luckily, no-one knew who they were outside of two allies, and what were the chances the Outlands Kael’thas could locate the one following Trixie now?

They entered the humble farm thinking these reasonable things.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

For readers of We Remember Everything, Trixie was thinking of this for Kael with facial hair: Fandral

Level 11: Watching Those Hips

A/N: Special thanks to GretzerGreen, GamerGoddessNayru, refferee, Amethyst Blade, SilentMech, Ozymandias42, and Ketvirtas for your comments last chapter! They were very nice and supportive, and they helped me put this together even as life continues to go on and drain energy away from these more fun endeavors. That and hackers taking Fimfiction down for a couple days. That sucked too.

Anyone who gets the name references in this chapter without looking them up are awesome. Also, anyone who knows who Hope Saldean is, good for you too.

I hope you all enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

When Trixie entered the house she was met with the sight of a large open room with a staircase to the side that led to a second floor. A red carpet lined the floor, and in general the room felt more rough than the Elven rooms she had been in until that point. The reason for this stemmed from how, while the house was in no way scary or uncomfortable, it was patched together at various parts where what appeared to be years old damage lay. If it was a chair the house would have a single shoddy leg that was pieced back together while the rest was slightly worn.

A middle aged woman with a plain white shirt underneath a soft brown overshirt was busy working in what appeared to be a small kitchen on the side of the large room that comprised the entire first floor. After Trixie came in the woman turned around to smile at the newcomer.

“Hello. My name is Salma, and I guess you’ve met my husband. Have you come to stay the night?” the woman asked kindly, her face displaying a gentleness and kindness Trixie had not really encountered up until that point amongst the more serious Elves.

Trixie had only come in a few feet before she found herself bowing before her new hostess, “If you would not mind. We are passing through and have very little.”

Salma chuckled at the sight of someone bowing, the farmer’s wife not used to having such overly polite guests, “Of course not! We will take anyone in who needs help. You can even stay as long as you like, if you don’t mind helping us around here.”

“You are too kind. I am Trixie Lulamoon. My partner and I are traveling magicians who are still studying, so meals and a place to stay are most welcome.”

It wasn’t too much of a lie, and Trixie didn’t want to explain to the nice lady that they were runaways from an enemy nation who may or may not be pursued by an evil doppelganger.

“Well, why don’t you have a seat at our table? We are just about to have supper after all, and I always make sure we have enough for some guests.”

Trixie noticed a whoosh of air as someone swept past her and up the room’s staircase before she could even turn to look at who it was. She doubted that the farmer she could still hear talking to Kael outside was the culprit, so who was this third person?

“Who was that?” Trixie asked Salma with a forcefully curious voice, when in reality she was more inquisitorial out of fear. What she didn’t know at this point could definitely hurt her.

Salma shook her head as she finished preparing the food she had in the kitchen, “Oh, that was our daughter, Hope. She is shy around company usually, so I suppose I’ll have to save her something to eat.”

Satisfied with this answer and no longer fearing the unknown person, Trixie let herself relax as Kael and Salma’s husband came inside the farmhouse. The farmer moved to kiss his wife on the cheek before taking a seat at the head of the room’s large table. This done, Salma turned to see Kael and gave him the same smile she had given Trixie.

“This must be your friend. Please, have a seat with your dearie while I serve everyone.”

Food once again on the brain, Trixie took a breath in through her nose and she realized quite quickly that there was some fresh bread. She dragged Kael over to some seats across from their host as his wife brought over the plates of food to the table. Kael would have offered to help, but he had been dragged out of helping range just at the moment she would have needed it.

The food placed down, Salma tilted her head up towards the upper floor and in the direction of the staircase, “Katz, bring your brother and sister down for supper!”

Some scuffling upstairs followed the call, and after a semi-loud “Owww!” a flurry of footsteps came flooding down the staircase and three young kids stood where none were before.

The kids seemed surprised to see the two guests, and in true childish fashion one of them gawked, one of them hid behind the gawker, and the last one just stared at them all confused.

Salma sighed at their behavior, though she wasn’t all that surprised at their reactions, “Children, introduce yourselves to our new guests. This is Trixie and Kael Lulamoon, and they will be here for the night.”

The one who had been confused was a very young boy in a green shirt and who had black hair to contrast his light skin, and he was the first to recover from the initial shock of visitors who looked funny, “I’m Katz!”

The one hiding was seemingly the youngest, looking to be no older than four, also introduced herself with a mumbled “Kikka” as she hid behind the last kid. Trixie would have laughed at the shyness if not for the fact it would be rude, and she had more tact than that…though just barely.

The last one, another young boy wearing suspenders and with darker skin than the other two, helped push Kikka out from behind him as he introduced himself too, “And I’m Letz.”

Now exposed, Kikka brought her arms behind her back as she struggled to look Trixie and Kael in the eyes, “Why do your eyes glow?”

Salma was about to chastise the child for rudely interrogating their new guest, but Trixie’s amused laughter cut her off.

“It’s because of our powerful magic,” she was bluffing completely, but it made sense to her so she would go with it. Having done the initial bluff, Trixie continued on with her previous white lie with enough force to hint to Kael that this was what they were going with, “We are magicians after all.”

“Woah, awesome!” both Katz and Letz exclaimed at the same time, though a look from their “mother” sent them into a frenzy to take their seats on the sides of the table. It was obvious to both Trixie and Kael that all of these children were adopted by the couple as none of them held any resemblance to the farmers.

“Perhaps you can give us a look at your skills tomorrow morning. I’m sure the children would love it,” the head of the household mentioned as he took his wife’s hand in his own, his other hand wrapping around Letz’s as the boy sat down.

Trixie continued to do the speaking for the “traveling magicians” so as to make sure Kael wouldn’t trip up on anything she had said yet, “Of course. It would be our pleasure.”

With that, Mr. Saldean nodded to her and gave a calm smile. Something he knew about magic was that even basic magicians could conjure food, so these two visitors were most likely the very greenest of novices. While the lady seemed a bit overconfident in her skills or at least boastful, the man seemed to know his place more, though in the end it didn’t matter so long as they could pull their weight somehow.

“Now, everyone, let’s take hands and say prayer,” the farmer announced, leading Letz to take his younger sister’s hand who in turn nervously held a hand out to Trixie. Trixie smiled down to the young girl as she gently took the hand, using her other hand to wrap around Kael’s and squeeze it. Across the table Salma took Katz’s hand and her husband’s while Trixie leaned in slightly towards Kael.

“What’s a prayer?” she whispered as softly as possible to her partner. The word wasn’t ringing a bell and she didn’t want to be rude and not partake.

Kael wanted to respond and explain what a prayer was, but the family began to give a chant related to “the Light” that Trixie and Kael were forced to just smile and nod to the words.

Trixie made a mental note of researching this “Light” and finding out what the heck it was, but for the moment she wasn’t going to ruin a good meal over such an insignificant matter.

The two had slept in one of the three bedrooms of the house, previously belonging to Hope but the eldest of the children had cleared out her things for the guests while they all ate.

Trixie still hadn’t gotten the chance to meet the elusive elder daughter, though she didn’t really feel the need to after getting a belly full of bread. Unlike the feast Evangelin had put together in the prosperous Silvermoon City, the Saldean family had much more meager means of getting by. Trixie actually only managed to half-stuff herself before she realized how there would be no follow up plates of food to replace the originals. She was a guest to a rural farm, not a paying patron to a well off inn, so not only would eating an exorbitant amount of food be rude, it would be depriving everyone else of what little there was to eat.

“Rise and shine everyone!”

The sun was just rising when Kael jolted awake from the sound of Farmer Saldean loudly projecting from downstairs. From the sounds of it there seemed to be a routine, one which Kael decided he would obey for the purpose of fostering good will. Sleeping through such a thing could cause the kind farmer to consider him lazy.

Still, this did not cause him to enjoy the act of getting up. He rubbed his eyes as he lifted his body off the bed and complained quietly, “Who wakes up at this ungodly hour?”

He didn’t notice a hoof slip off of being on top of him as he got up, so when no response came from Trixie Kael found himself surprised to turn and see that she was in her equine body.

“Trixie? You slept all of yesterday, how can you possibly be tired still?”

Trixie had her face buried into the pillow, the pointy horn atop her head only not having impaled the pillow beneath her blue coated face because she was very still in her sleep. Trixie’s only movement after Kael left the bed was to roll onto her back, her front legs withdrawn and close to her chest with the upper parts under the covers while right at the bottom they poked out and sat above the blanket provided.

She wasn’t all that big of a horse, luckily. If that could be considered a lucky thing given that she was still a horse. She must have sneezed at some point of the night while he was asleep, or there could always be an alternate method to her transformation…

Kael smirked as he sat back down on the bed and brushed a hand across her blue cheek. When she wasn’t being haughty and was this serene she was quite adorable. Her long ear twitched at his touch, though she made no further movement as Kael removed his hand.

“I guess we’ll talk about it another time. You had better be alright.”

All this sleeping could have to do with her alternate form, but they had not solved the mystery that was her transformation yet. It could always be something more, and that worried the more reserved of the two partners. Trixie didn’t seem to want to really solve the puzzle since she wasn’t searching for a solution despite it being her body, which left him to do all the caring.

As he stood again a small murmur left Trixie’s lips that brought him to stop in place.

“Kael…”

That got his attention. Was she waking up? Her eyes were still closed, and she wasn’t moving.

“Yes?” he questioned her as a kind of test for the sleeping or not question.

Of course, the soft breathing helped with the theory that she was still asleep as she then murmured quietly, “…bread…”

That was confirmation that Trixie was either asleep or hungry, but perhaps both, “Even in your sleep? Did you grow up only on starch?”

“…Luna…”

Kael shook his head in defeat. She was still asleep, because she would have retorted or complained if she was awake. It had been some time since the wake up call had been uttered anyways, so he really ought to go catch up with the stampede of footsteps he could hear outside as the free former orphans made their way downstairs. Kael had been watching Trixie sleep long enough anyways, and he doubted he could wake her if she slept through the yelling.

“I am just going to assume there is a connection between those words. Have a good rest.”

One more thing caught his eye though as he began to leave: a mark on Trixie’s hip. Her blue fur wasn’t fully covered because of how he moved the blanket when he got up, and the peaceful mare in bed wasn’t conscious enough to move it back. As such, Kael got a good view of what appeared to be a tattoo of a wand and a moon in a different color blue than her normal coat of fur. A horse with a tattoo visible despite her fur? Looking at her gave him a new surprise every day it seemed…

“A tattoo…huh,” one of a wand no less. Coincidence or a sign? “No wonder you think being a magician is your thing…”

When he got downstairs Kael noticed that everyone was in similar seats to the night before, though this time he noticed three empty chairs: presumably one for him, one for Trixie, and one for the missing Hope.

As Kael smiled to all of the others the Farmer smiled back at him and spoke first, “Is your wife coming down for breakfast?”

Kael didn’t want to lie, so he gave a version of the truth that would stall them long enough likely to keep them from checking on Trixie and noticing her…more surprising side. In retrospect Kael realized he should have forced her to sneeze before leaving, since there was still a chance her secret would get out, “Trixie has an odder sleep schedule than most, while my own is more amorphous.”

Kael still hated being up, but he did not want to appear to be some upper class twit who could not adapt to his surroundings.

From her seat Kikka waved a hand wildly to get Salma’s attention, “Mommy, I heard a horse last night. Is there a pretty pony outside?”

Salma looked to Kael for the answer, though the Elf continued to use words in a way that would keep him from lying to his gracious hosts, “I assure you that I brought no horse.”

It was true in a way: he brought an Elf who had the ability to turn into a horse. He brought an Elf.

“Sorry, Kikka,” Kael apologized, feeling partly bad at how she seemed dejected by this news. She must have really wanted to see a horse. To carry the topic off of the horse sleeping upstairs Kael turned to face the farmer and bring up a topic from the night before, “So, you mentioned that you would like help around the farm. However may I lend my aid to you?”

Saldean sighed as the family all began to eat, Kael making sure to eat as little as possible like he had the night before to not impose upon them, “Well, times are tough, my brother. With the downtrodden masses of Stormwind migrating into Westfall, resources are stretched as thin as they've ever been. The people are restless and in need of help.”

That alone gave Kael a good idea on what the situation was around here. The human capital city likely was overpopulated and was forcing some of its people to leave, and given Westfall’s close location to the capital it was an easy location to move to.

This, however, was countered by the previous mention of bandits. Bandits who must plague the farmers in one way or another or else things would not be so rough.

“Our own farmhouse has been serving as a halfway house for years. Salma does the best that she can to keep our guests alive, but sometimes the watchers get 'em…”

Saldean’s voice trailed off as he realized Kael didn’t understand what he was talking about. The farmer gestured to a window that was facing the fields, from where Kael was able to peer through and see that there were large machines roaming the fields at a slow pace. They were brown in color and appeared to be bulky or even overweight scarecrows with glowing red eyes. What made these golems scary though was the nasty talons they had in place of more gentle hands. Some even had bloodstains on the cloth that covered their metal bodies, proof of their murdering ways.

Watchers are those twisted abominations roaming my fields - a little present left behind by the Defias, before they were driven off.”

The Defias…if Kael could recall, those were the bandits mentioned the night before. So even now, while driven off, the Defias were a nuisance to the land? Whoever had wronged them so to make them want to harass simple farmers? It wasn’t even as if Westfall seemed like anything important…

Still, the mentality of a pack of thieves was not of his concern. Helping the farmers who were harmed by them was, and it seemed the way to do that would be destroying the machines outside.

Kael snapped his fingers and created a small flicker of flame to show off a bit of his power. He could do more, but that would require actual work, and this was enough to impress the children gathered at the table, “I possess fire magic. I can melt the machines if you so please.”

The farmer nodded to him in agreement and grew a smile where had previously been a depressed frown, “Melted Watchers are better than people-killing ones, and we can use the resources from them to trade and for our community. I am not much of a fighter, so I would be most grateful if you helped us clear them out.”

This would be perfect for Kael: not only would it allow him to practice his offensive magic, it also would let him prove his worth to the family so kind to take them in and not murder them during their sleep.

“It will give me an opportunity to practice, as well as earn my keep. I would be glad to lend my skills.”

It took some time for Trixie to wake up, but when she did she was quite glad that their bag with their pepper was still in the room. It was weird waking up as a horse, especially since she did not remember sneezing at all at the time she went to bed…could someone sneeze in their sleep? She had never seen it happen, at least not with her limited memories, so perhaps that was the issue.

A forced sneeze later, Trixie prepared herself to go downstairs. She was grateful that her equine body was not that of a full sized horse, for all she seemed to do when she changed bodies was push off her robes rather than rip through them. It would be embarrassing if she was left with nothing to wear, since she still did not have a spare set with her.

She also was a fair bit taller than the oldest woman in the house, Salma Saldean, so borrowing clothes was not really an option. That wasn’t even mentioning how Trixie was half the other woman’s size in terms of weight, not that Salma appeared overweight. Trixie was just skinny for an Elf, exaggerated by her height, and humans seemed to possess a thicker build than Elves as a whole. While Kael was quite fit and broader than the average male Elf, he was still slimmer than the farmer as yet another comparison.

Take the height of an Elf and some of the broadness of the Human and you receive someone as imposing as Reuenthal…though his eyes were definitely more scary with their different colored glows than his physique. Trixie would hate to get on his bad side, and actually kind of pitied anyone seeking to kill him.

He was just one of many people she would have to catch up to if she ever desired to make a name for herself.

Trixie didn’t really care that her robe’s neck piece was stretched enough to hang at the edge of her shoulder, but when she went downstairs Salma noticed. Salma was going about some chores when Trixie stumbled down the stairs and let out a large yawn, earning a chuckle from the elder woman who was quite amused at the sight.

“Good morning. What have I missed?” Trixie groggily asked Salma, not even noticing the three children who were across the large room with their heads peeking outside the door.

Salma lowered a cleaning rag onto her kitchen counter as she turned to face their guest, “Nothing too much. I’m sorry, but I did not have anything more than bread to save you. I hope it is enough.”

That woke Trixie up in a hurry, her long ears standing up as straight as they could at the mention of her favorite food group: delicious bread.

“Bread is just perfect!”

Trixie thanked her hostess as she was given a small plate of bread rolls, which Trixie took to the dining table and prepared herself to eat with the unused utensils left there.

“Oh bread, how I love thee. I just had a dream about you along those lines,” Trixie laughed to herself about her sleep the night before. No nightmares, just fluffy goodness and happy thoughts. And a lot of bread and assorted things she liked as much and more, though she was having trouble recalling the dreams. She just knew that they were good, and that she wanted to dream like that every night because she felt very well rested.

Salma snorted at the mention of Trixie dreaming about food. She had been quite hungry before, but she couldn’t remember once dreaming about eating, “No wonder you were hungry.”

“I eat like a horse. My apologies for my diet in advance,” Trixie sheepishly admitted after quickly downing the entire plate of food, though she did manage to hide the truth in what would sound like a simile.

Salma nodded and winked at the other woman, having a wholly different idea in her mind as to how and why such a skinny being could eat so much, “Oh, I remember what it was like for my friends to eat for two back when they were all newly married.”

That gave Trixie a laugh. Married? To who? As if she would be married!

Once she calmed her laughter Trixie shook her head, “I doubt I’ll be getting married anytime soon. Definitely not in this chapter of my life.”

“Oh, you’re not married to Kael’thas?” it was a legitimate question born of actual confusion and not some kind of joke. The odds that two random travelers of opposite sex going around, shared a last name, didn’t look alike, slept in the same bed comfortably, and were affectionate towards one another while NOT being married or at least lovers was quite slim. In fact, the idea was completely perplexing to Salma, who had seen people for years and years come through Westfall and never once could think of something so...unusual.

Luckily for her, Trixie realized how this might look given what these people were likely thinking, and she instantly began to backtrack.

“Well…” Trixie cleared her throat. Kael was just her companion and good friend…though she had to admit he was quite enjoyable to be around. And, if she were to be married, she could do worse than a kind man who was smart, reasonable, and was possibly a prince. Still, she had to find a way to spin this so as to calm the confusion of Salma. It wouldn’t do to have the family ask too many questions and find out that they were really not whatever these High Elves were supposed to be, “We are partners, and we share our lives wholly, so why bother getting married?”

Salma nodded, though her eyes glanced over Trixie’s stomach regardless. No noticeable bump lay there, so perhaps Trixie wasn’t carrying a child like she had thought at first, “I see. Well, your companion is quite the good man. He’s outside right now cleaning up the farm.”

That elicited another fit of laughter from Trixie, though this one was less like a cackle than the other.

“Cleaning? Kael? Have you met him?”

Trixie’s clothes may be nearly ripped, but Kael’s were in tatters ever since she met him, and their condition only worsened with every passing day.

Salma frowned and thought over the condition her guests had come in. Neither seemed particularly well off, and their level of dishevelment was something she’d expect more of Stormwind’s poor than two High Elven mages, “Oh, yes, about that, I noticed that all of your clothing is damaged…” she moved across the room to bring a hand to pat a pile of what appeared to be linen cloth, “I hope you do not mind, but I was thinking about tailoring you some new clothes to wear. Yours appear to have been stretched almost to the point of ripping and are quite loose, and his are in tatters.”

Trixie blushed at the offer, “Our apologies for being so bedraggled. We have not had money or time to acquire new clothing yet.”

“Oh it is no problem at all. It is funny to find High Elves who are anything less than snobbish, perfect looking beings though.”

So even their appearance was a give away? Perhaps, Trixie thought to herself, they could just give their hosts a version of the truth to cover any such issues?

Trixie would tell Kael later about her plan to cover their stories, “To be honest, I am suffering from a bit of amnesia, as is Kael, so I don’t remember all that much about High Elves as a whole…”

“Oh, I am afraid I do not know much about them other than how they look. Even then I doubt I could tell the difference between them and that other Elf group the…Blood Elves? Was that it?”

Trixie was glad Salma was looking at the cloth and sewing materials nearby it, because a chill went down the magician’s spine at that. The sound of some screaming outside did nothing to make the chilled feeling leave her. She hadn’t been caught in her lies, but it sure felt like that.

She was forced to play dumb in response, “I believe so.”

“In any case, I think perhaps you should go out and help him. He sounds like he could use it.”

Trixie turned her head to where the three former orphans were all poking their heads out, finally realizing their presence and noticing that perhaps they were looking at something interesting.

“Help him?” Trixie questioned just as a yell of pain reached her ears, “Is that what that screaming is?”

“Yes, he agreed to help with our mechanical menace problem…” Salma peered out a window and frowned at what she saw, “I think his clothes are going to need to be tossed entirely.”

Trixie threw down the napkin she had been using to eat her meal and stood up quickly. Apparently Kael was in some kind of fight, one it sounded like he was having trouble with solo, “Oh dear. I think I have a dear friend in need. Sorry, I promise I’ll clean up when I’m back inside!”

“Don’t worry about it,” Salma reassured, not blaming Trixie for her urgency.

Trixie excused herself as she pushed the door outside open and forced the three children out of her way, partly sorry but also more worried about Kael being physically harmed than the feelings of three children.

The sight she was greeted with was one which caused exasperation rather than concern in her though: Kael was running in circles from what appeared to be a giant scarecrow with claws for hands. Well, more than one giant Scarecrow, actually. Three were in hot pursuit of him as Farmer Saldean stood to the side stalling another with a long rake. The casualness demonstrated by the owner of the property showed that he was used to this, but the way Kael had pulled the attention of multiple of the machines seemed to indicate that he was not quite so used to handling such a matter.

“Kael, stop your foalishness at once! They’re just metal buckets!” Trixie shouted at him, not caring for the humiliation he was earning them both with this display. One of the machines chasing him had burn marks on its torso as well as its metal face, metal and cloth burnt to reveal some of its inner cogs and machinery.

The sight interested Trixie, but she ignored her inquisitive side to instead focus on how to solve this whole issue. The crop field was filled with such machines, though only these three seemed to have noticed Kael, with a fourth causing Saldean grief. That meant they had a pretty low range of sight or sensory systems or whatever, which made the fact that Kael had pulled multiple all the more embarrassing.

One of the undamaged machines chasing Kael heard Trixie’s insult and turned to face her, causing the magician to take a step back into the three children gathered behind her.

“Taunt registered. New target detected. New objective: Eliminating secondary target.”

Trixie rose an eyebrow. They could register speech like that? They were better built than she expected, “Taunt? Eliminating—?”

It lunged at Trixie, though its thick metal legs were not built for speed thus allowing Trixie to shout out a spell in time, “Gi’kor!”

A lance of ice burst forth and impaled the mechanical contraption, though the ice was not deep. This slowed the machine down enough for Trixie to start running to the side and it began to give chase, albeit at a lumbering pace. She did not want it to charge her while there were people behind her, and she doubted that the Saldeans had expected the machines to get that close to the house.

A burst of fire ripped into the machine’s back, dealing far more damage because of the difference in elements, and so the previously taunted machine turned to face its previous threat…who was no longer in sight.

Trixie had to dodge out of the way of a sliding Kael, who had taken the machine’s moment of confusion to slip past it and fire another attack on it from below. One of the machines pursuing him collided with its brother machine that was both on fire and chilled, leaving one still in pursuit for the time being.

Trixie helped Kael to his feet and prepared another spell, an icy blue aura forming around her hand with purple tinges to it. Kael did the same with his hand currently not held by Trixie, only his was red from the flames building up in his palm.

He began to say something, but the long reach of the still pursuing Harvest Watcher managed to slash down his chest and give him an abdomen-long wound that cut right through his already damaged clothes.

Trixie used the close proximity of the machine to fire off her attack accurately into its neck, which had the effect of covering it in ice all around the head and neck region but did not stop it from taking another swipe at Kael, who had lost the magic gathered in his palm and was brought to his knees at the damage he received.

Kael was knocked onto his back from the second hit of mechanical talons and Trixie found herself assaulted too by the sweeping motion, the remaining strength of the strike making her stumble to the side just as she finished channeling her spell again.

The impact hit and pierced straight through the frozen material, making the Harvest Watcher crumble onto the ground as its head unit fell off and the top part of its chest exploded as the systems within it went haywire. She was forced to jump to the side to get away from its falling form, though she yelped as she tripped over Kael.

On the soft soil of the field Trixie found herself breathing heavily and actually in pain: these things were way too tough for either one of them, which meant that each of them was lucky to have the other. Perhaps Kael had not been so wrong to run at first…and even then he had taken time from his own evasion to help her combat the one who came at her.

Then she tripped over the poor bleeding man. That made her feel kind of bad, since he was letting out pained noises. The damage he sustained had not seemed deep, but she was quite sure it hurt like Hel, and someone tripping over your wound couldn’t help matters at all.

“Oh wow, I thought they were just scary scarecrows…” Trixie complained to herself

Even in a world of pain Kael managed to wisecrack at her statement, “Redundant much?”

Her sympathy for him burned out the moment it conflicted with her pride, “Shut up you foalishly foalish foal.”

Trixie moved off of him and started to get up and rearrange her own damaged robes now that they had a series of lines cut horizontally through them. As she tended to her own egomania Kael began to pick himself up too, still laughing despite the pain because of her speaking pattern. Where could she have picked up such eccentricities?

“Speaking of redundant, is it a pun when you likely mean that in a wholly different way than some might say it?”

Trixie hadn’t noticed her mistake, causing her to question him as she watched rather than helped him get up, “Say what?”

“Foal instead of fool.”

“Stop being a smart ass and help me,” Trixie groaned. If it was just them she wouldn’t care, but she could see the children giggling over at the house, “I say we kill seven more of these abominations and then see if they need a hand with anything else inside?”

Kael was curious about her specific choice of seven, since there appeared to be far more than that in the field, but he wasn’t sure he could handle a full ten more, “Works for me,” one of his hands rose to his chest where his red blood was streaming down onto his similarly colored clothing, “Though I must warn you I am getting a bit…tired, and low on mana.”

“Mana?” Trixie asked, something about the word striking a chord in her mind. Had she read about it? Heard about it?

Kael wasn’t quite sure where he got it from either, “The energy that powers our magic. Did I just remember the name from my old memories, or did we discuss this yet?”

“Who knows? It’s not like our teacher told us much more than ‘beat up those poor animals’.”

“I suppose you are right,” he sighed as he tried to muster the strength to cast more magic. He could honestly use a break, but he also wasn’t sure he’d be getting up anytime soon if he stopped and let the adrenaline wear off.

With both of them working together it was actually a pathetic display from the remaining Harvest Watchers, who were unable to do much when ice rooted them to the ground and as fire melted right through them. The two didn’t even receive any other wounds now that they had aid, but Trixie began to notice the toll Kael’s previous ones were taking. He had been hit and maimed even before she came outside, probably having thought he could handle the machines easier than he actually could.

As their quickly decided battles progressed Trixie moved to keep Kael propped up by using her own body. He didn’t say anything to thank her, his speech having dropped off as he channeled all his energy into casting spells, but Trixie didn’t need the act to be recognized. She wasn’t going to let him be the only one who helped selflessly, and she was already used to carrying him in one way or another.

“Woah, you guys are awesome!”

Five more machines had fallen when the praise came from one of the two orphan boys, causing Trixie to look back and watch as his mother ushered the children all inside, “Get inside, Katz. It’s dangerous to go out when the machines are active.”

“But I wanna see the Elves beat up the robots…” he complained. She usually let him watch when someone came to beat up the Harvest Watchers, but this time the fights were taking place closer to the house. Of course, as a child, he wasn’t able to really piece together the difference in situations and as such was upset to be told to come inside like the other two had already gone.

“You can watch from inside.”

“Okay…” he agreed, though his voice revealed he wanted to watch from a closer view. Trixie looked back to Kael as the door shut, a weird feeling having slowly crept into her ever since she saw the three children that morning.

“Is something the matter?” Kael questioned her, finally having had a moment to catch his breath since they took a break from destroying robots.

“I…” Trixie started, though she had no real idea about how to finish. What was she feeling? It wasn’t anything good…

She shook her head as she attempted to dismiss the subject, “Kids make me feel weird. That’s all.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

Trixie tried exploring the emotion more but only came up with more vagueness. Perhaps the cause of her feelings came from before she remembered anything? Past experiences with children could be giving her these feelings, “I don’t get the feeling that I like them…” she sighed as she thought about anything these children had done. They hadn’t done anything to really irritate her, at least not in the way Kael was moments ago, so the feeling wasn’t personal towards them, “But there isn’t anything wrong with these ones…at least not yet…”

Kael smirked. He might be able to plant certain seeds in her mind that would pay off farther down the line, all through an innocent suggestion, “Perhaps you can think of a way that they would be more appealing to you,” he shrugged weakly and gave a small laugh to make it sound like he was joking, “Maybe if they were your own you would feel better?”

That actually did sound quite better to Trixie. While not having any desire to be a mother in particular, she doubted she could bring herself to hate her own children, and so perhaps viewing children as if they were not unlike her own could help her issue…especially since Trixie was partial to the idea of having more of herself around, “I do love myself…”

“I do too,” Kael commented, fully knowing she wouldn’t catch his meaning. She would assume he was speaking of himself like she had just done, and he was fine with that at this point. Her oblivious innocence was a nice contrast to the sometimes grim world they found themselves in.

“We’re really egocentric, aren’t we?” Trixie laughed as she misconstrued his statement as expected. Though there was a slight bit of nervousness to her laughter Kael realized…

Was she oblivious, or pretending to be?

“I like you just the way you are.”

That thought caused her laughter to simmer down and for a frown to grow on her face. They weren’t close enough to anyone else to hear them unless they were loud, so she spoke softly on purpose, “Even though I’m a horse?”

That was certainly an interesting point. If he were to pursue a relationship with her he would most certainly prefer she remain in her Elven form except for when it was more convenient to have a way of transportation, but in reality he didn’t mind too much. Something told him that shapeshifting wasn’t abnormal in this world, so making a fuss about her changing of forms was not high on his priority list, “It makes you all the more interesting.”

Trixie snorted, “They think we’re married. I can almost see why, even though it’s a silly idea.”

Kael felt his stomach drop. He would have to choose his words carefully if he didn’t want to reveal to much to her, especially since she seemed quite oblivious to his growing devotion to her, “Oh, yes, I was meaning to mention that to you.”

“Consider yourself lucky. Something intuitively tells me that married men don’t see as much skin as you do most of the time.”

“I don’t think most men are married to nudist animals though.”

Trixie balked at his statement despite previously having enjoyed her playful joke, “You make it sound profane. I just find wearing full clothing…” she paused to consider the issue. She didn’t mind clothing, but it did not feel like a necessity to her, “Well it’s weird. Some isn’t bad, and I like it, but anything more feels wrong.”

Trixie would have suggested they go back to their job when she was interrupted by a hand moving atop her head. It took her a moment to realize her hair was being stroked, which made her blush in embarrassment as she realized Kael was chuckling.

“Kael, I’m not some animal or pet you can just touch for your own amusement! You touch my fur enough as it is!”

“If I had fur I’d let you touch it,” he offered, though he had no intention of changing bodies like her. He was comfortable and secure as he was.

In an attempt at retaliation Trixie brought a hand up to his hair and began to play with the blonde locks strewn wildly about given his lack of a comb. This not feeling like enough, Trixie began running a hand over his chest to show him what it felt like when he scratched her belly as a horse, “See? How does that feel?”

Kael closed his eyes and did his best to focus on accomplishing a singular goal, “Good and…uncomfortable.”

How could something good feel uncomfortable? Trixie was baffled by his response, though it stemmed from her general naiveté rather than a lack of intelligence, “How is it both?”

He chose to give her an alternate explanation rather than the one that’d make her blush, “It’s not for the same reason, but you definitely like it when I pet you, yet you find it embarrassing so it’s uncomfortable for you despite the physical pleasure.”

Trixie certainly wasn’t comfortable with the tingling and odd feeling she got when he pet her, so perhaps he was correct in labeling it both things, “I guess you’re right…”

A random thought from their previous conversation crept into Trixie’s mind and made its way out in the form of her crossing her arms and pouting briefly, “Anyways, don’t do anything to blow our cover. For the next few days I am your wife, and you will treat me like you would the woman you love.”

“I don’t foresee needing to make any changes,” Kael joked, though Trixie did not appear to catch it given her response.

“Why, because they won’t notice the difference?” after all, the Saldeans barely knew them.

That wasn’t it though, but Kael was fine with letting her assume that, “Something like that…”

It was his turn to have a random thought creep into his mind as a subtle glance over Trixie’s body brought this particular memory rushing back.

“Oh, and also, I noticed you have a tattoo on your hip. Probably in both forms, but definitely in your equine body.”

Trixie did not feel like she was the type to get a tattoo, especially on such a place as her hip, and so his statement made her confused, “A tattoo?”

“Yes, it was of a magic wand and what appeared to be a moon.”

Trixie glared at him as she resumed her previous position as a third leg to him to keep him standing, “You will tell no-one of this,” her glare deepened when she realized that to notice something like that he had to have taken a look at that part of her, “And why were you looking there, Kael?”

He held a hand up defensively, though the other covered the part of him that was still bleeding, “It just caught my eye since it’s different. That’s all.”

That was a lie, but Trixie bought it.

Kael had been checking if her large hips carried over across forms, though he had a feeling that since they didn’t seem out of place on her equine body that her large pony hips led to her having large Elven hips.

Yes, he was thinking about the logic and science behind her behind. He would feel bad if not for the fact that she slept in underwear on top of him every night.

This, he reasoned, was most definitely why he found himself falling for her at twice the speed he otherwise might have. Not only was her personality adorable, she was physically attracting him at all points of the day and then accidently flaunting herself because of her equine mentality.

At least, he reasoned, he was the only one privy to this side of her. He was not quite sure he would like to share it. He only hoped these facts about her quirks did not spread, since it might ruin any reputation they were building for themselves.

After defeating two more Harvest Watchers without any real difficulty the two made their way inside and prepared to take a rest. That was quite the task they just did, and it hurt like nothing else they Kael felt since they woke up, and the wound was about on par for Trixie with her humiliation against the Huntard previously.

Oh the Huntard…Trixie was glad a more skilled Hunter put that Huntard in her place the last time they saw her. Justice, Trixie believed, though it was brought about by someone who might no longer be alive…

Back at the Fairbreeze Inn Trixie and Kael had stayed at for some time there was quite the crowd gathered. Many Elves had lost their homes in the brief invasion as fighting waged across the city, and so the Inns were housing extra people who weren’t able to return home just yet. The cities carpenters and workers were working hard, but it would be a few days before people could return home.

The Fairbreeze Inn ended up housing a few of the surviving military members in the city who were not at the hospital camps set up around the city, and if one were to be honest there were more members of the military being nursed back to health than there were those in good health because of how terribly their forces had been crushed by Kargath’s Orcs under the command of Prince Kael’thas.

Some men hanging by the bar of the Inn were speaking about the two travelers who had earned some slight reputation from them being around two high ranking military officials before the invasion, which is why their words ended up playing a part in the building repute of Trixie and Kael.

“You remember that guy who came through that the stuck up Hunter wanted a bounty on?” one military man laughed as he drank with his many friends. They were all getting their drinks and were going to take seat at a large round table set up to accommodate the extra guests when their conversation began.

“Yeah, what about him? I didn’t really get to see his face because of the freaking bandana,” the second man complained about the hidden Kael who had slipped by them.

The first man grinned wildly, remembering something for all of the wrong reasons, “You remember that girl that was with him?”

“Oh boy, do I ever! Those hips were huge! I bet I couldn’t even take that backside of hers in with both hands if I tried,” a third man in their group laughed as he remembered Trixie, who was…differently proportioned from other Blood Elf women.

Across the room, their conversation caught the ears of some other men who were playing Pool quietly by themselves. They just finished a game, making their tally equal for the day of wins and losses. No longer distracted by the game, they began to intently listen in on the raunchy men across the room.

The first man spoke up again, “I hear she isn’t all that modest. Perhaps that loser won’t mind sharing her…”

The fourth and final man in the original group winked to his friends as they all toasted a drink to the beautiful woman they all had noticed, “They were staying at this cheap inn too, so I bet she’d be willing to do quite a lot for a few silver pieces.”

A second pool game did not begin as the raven haired man and the stocky blonde beside him each grit their teeth. Neither was anywhere near remotely okay with what they were hearing, and yet the other men continued to yak on and on about their perversion.

Reuenthal grabbed Mitter’meyer’s shoulder and stopped him from approaching the profane group of men. They were both recovering from wounds sustained in the recent battle, and it would make a fight difficult.

That was not the actual reason he halted Mitter’meyer though. He had a much better reason, and in no way was it because he did not want Mitter’meyer to discipline them with a barrage of fists.

“Don’t. It will be seen as excessive force if you use the pool cue.”

Mitter’meyer looked down to see that he had begun to wield the pool cue as a weapon. Realizing this, he put it down, and Reuenthal let go.

They didn’t need a weapon, as proven by how later that day four more casualties were added to the official record.

It was one thing to insult his majesty, a crime punishable in the harshest of manners, but it was another entirely to insult the lady of his majesty, even unknowingly.

As the two men had their opponents dragged off to be healed at the medical camps, Reuenthal wondered to himself how Kael and his companion were faring in Westfall. It had been some time since he had visited it himself, and things were surely to have changed given that the Defias’s leadership had lost its head years back.

Perhaps they could warm up their skills on the lowly Human bandits who could still be skulking around, or on those damned Mrgles or whatever their species was called. Fish people with less brains than the four men now in the hospital.

Mitter’meyer was less worried because his faith in his lord, and so he instead was more chipper as he thought about going home, “Reuenthal, care to come over for dinner? Evangelin probably has put together something nice, and I have had enough of this bar for one night.”

Reuenthal dispelled his thoughts and shook his head no, “Sorry, Mitter’meyer. I do not possess your speed, and so I can only do tasks so swiftly. I have other matters to attend to.”

His old fashioned friend put his hands on his hips and gave Reuenthal a knowing look.

This again.

“Does this ‘matter’ have dark or light hair?”

“Light,” Reuenthal smirked, knowing that he had been caught. He was going to be spending the evening with some woman.

“It was dark days ago! Why must you swap lovers every week?!”

“Week? I think you are undervaluing my skill.”

Mitter’meyer scoffed and shook his head. He closed his eyes to further show his disapproval, “I hope you’ll drop this debauchery one day…we have few enough people as it is, it won’t do if you hog all the ladies of our race!”

When he finished he opened his eyes again to find that he was all alone.

“Hey, where did you go? Reuenthal? Reuenthal! I wasn’t done lecturing you yet about family values!”

Author's Note

Trixie doesn't know it now, but she still hasn't gotten over Snips and Snails bringing an Ursa to Ponyville, which ruined her life. :rainbowlaugh:

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! Comments are :heart:

Level 12: Nananana, Nananana, Say Hellooooo

A/N: Special thanks to GamerGoddessNayru, SilentMech, refferee, GrezterGreen, Ketvirtas, and nioniosbbbb for your comments last chapter! They were very nice and supportive, and they helped me put this together even as life continues to go on and drain energy away from these more fun endeavors. I'm gonna be real busy for a couple weeks, so forgive me if I'm a little slow with updates. Your comments do help offset that though, so please continue letting me know what you think!

I hope you all enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

It was on the way inside the farm house that Trixie’s eye caught something. It was a mechanical contraption that formed an odd shape, what one might even call a malformed heart if not for its metallic composition, and the manner in which it moved around despite not being attached to anything else is what drew Trixie’s attention.

Trixie figured it must have fallen off or out of one of the destroyed machines, so she looted it from the ground and held it in one hand as she and Kael went inside. It was whirring around and making mechanical noises still, some oil running down one side of it and the sound of moving gears enticing Trixie’s ears.

Saldean turned and smiled at the two mechanical vanquishers as he closed the door behind them. Captivated by the weird device in her hand, Trixie held it out to him in hopes for an immediate answer about what it was, “Trixie found a thing. What does this thing do?”

“Now what have you got there…” the farmer said to himself as he leaned down to give it a better look. After some brief observation his face became shocked and he turned up to look at Trixie.

“Is that...Is that the heart of one of the watchers?”

Trixie shrugged, as did Kael because neither of them had a clue. Kael hadn’t really noticed what Trixie picked up, and he didn’t even think before that the machines had hearts.

Seeing that neither of them were going to answer his question with anything definitive, the farmer answered his own question as the young children of the house gathered around the taller residents, “I've heard stories about using one of these to power up a watcher for personal use. Of course I'm really in no shape to try such things myself.”

That was all Trixie needed to pull it back towards herself before thrusting it into the air triumphantly.

“Dibs!”

The others in the room were less well versed in such slang, and so Trixie received a chorus of questions from Kael, their two hosts, and the three children present.

“Dibs?”

Realizing that perhaps her own sense of language differed from theirs, Trixie backtracked and composed herself before continuing, “Ahem, may I tinker around with it, Mr. Saldean? It sounds like it would be quite useful.”

“Oh, why sure. From what I've heard, all you really need to do is find a suitable harvest golem and drop in the heart. Once you've done that you should be able to take full control of the creature.”

He took a look outside the window and then pointed in the direction Trixie’s map indicated was west of the farm.

“I think that there's a whole field of overloaded harvest golems west of here, at the Molsen Farm. Look for the arcs of electricty. Should you manage to get it working, use your golem to destroy the energized harvest reapers at the old Molsen farm. Those monsters are much more destructive than the ones on our farm.”

Trixie gave a noblewoman’s laugh as she thought about harnessing the power of one of the behemoths that had so recently wounded both her and Kael. She’d ask him to tag along, but he was in far worse condition than her.

Of course Trixie was not going to admit that she was worried about her still-bleeding companion and friend, so instead she sought a way of keeping him out of this. Her eyes darted around the room until she found Salma working off in one corner on sewing the new clothing for both of them.

“This’ll be fun,” Trixie gave her partner a patronizing pat on the shoulder as she moved to open the door that had just been shut, “Kael, why don’t you help our dear hostess with her sewing?”

The savvy Elf who was beginning to become attuned to Trixie’s eccentricities gave her an annoyed look, “I have a feeling you’re only saying that because usually men do the mechanical things, and women do the sewing.”

By now Trixie was already outside and placing the heart into the body of a lightly damaged Harvester they had defeated earlier by making it crash into another, taking this one offline but not destroying it.

“Sorry, can’t hear you, taking control of a killer robot!”

Kael groaned and shut the door with a slight amount of force, though he took care to make sure it did not slam. Trixie had just signed him up for sewing of all things. Who did she think she was?

After all, it’s not as if she had the comprehension and awareness to actually notice that she could get him to do whatever she wanted, at the cost of some banter of course. She didn’t know he cared for her more than just how partners did, and so she was just being her pretend-bossy self.

“Your lady friend is quite the interesting woman,” Saldean mused as he and the three orphans all moved to the window again to see what was going on outside. Kael spared himself the humiliation of watching Trixie do something cool, but he could still hear her.

“Harvest-tank launching!”

Kael hung his head. She was ridiculous and over the top at times, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

She owed him one though.

“Believe me, I know,” Kael replied in a half-amused, half-annoyed tone. He only hoped it was not something that ran in the blood. One Trixie was adorable if annoying. Two would kill him. A half dozen would be a living Hel, he’d reckon.

His thoughts about a later chapter in his life with Trixie were brought to a close by Salma calling him over to her.

“Hey handsome, mind helping me for a little while? I’m sure your lover won’t be gone long, and I doubt she’ll be jealous over lil’ old me.”

Lover? That made Kael want to laugh. He had to put up with Trixie’s equine habit of sleeping without conventional clothing every night and he had no such luck.

Perhaps though if he just weathered the pain for now, it’d pay off? Perhaps he could sew Trixie something she’d like—

Kael’s eyes lit up as he realized something.

He could sew her something HE liked.

Trixie had poked around inside of the machine she had taken control over before doing much of anything with it, and from this she actually gained a basic understanding of the motor functions. A puncture wound on the back of the Harvester let her peer inside the large tin can, and Trixie found herself not all that baffled by the inner workings. Perhaps, she considered, she had some experience with mechanical things in her previous memories that were poking out now. Minor experience though, because she still managed to cause the machine to explode after a few minutes of piloting it from the inside.

Trixie groaned as she stumbled back to the farm in a daze, glad that it wasn’t much of a walk. A good part of the day had passed by though because she fainted due to a certain explosion, and so her overall mood was sour. She had wanted to keep piloting the Harvester since it was quite fun to go around inside, “Well, that could have gone better…”

Upon her return to the farm Trixie was met by an enthusiastic Saldean, who ran up to meet her with a bright expression on his face. He seemed to have just finished his farm work for the day and was glad to have something else to focus on, “It actually worked? That's incredible, Trixie. Hopefully that takes care of the harvest golem problem here in Westfall.”

Trixie didn’t want to lie about this to the nice man, especially given that the golems were so dangerous, “I mean, there are still some around. I just misclicked a button and fell out. Then it crashed into another Harvester and exploded. I don’t think they’re meant to be controlled like that.”

It had been fun to slash at unsuspecting Harvesters, but the fun wore off with the bruise Trixie felt on her head. That surely wasn’t going to help her amnesia anytime soon.

“Here, let me bandage you up. You look like you took quite the beating today!”

Trixie submitted to the suggestion and let the elderly man begin patching up her wounds. She wished she had potions like Kael had before, but she doubted such things would be as common in the less magic infused human society.

As the farmer fixed Trixie up at a table on the side of the room, Trixie cast her gaze over to her partner who was seated at the dining room table with various pieces of cloth before him and Salma, “Kael, how was sewing?”

Kael appeared so focused that he didn’t even turn to acknowledge her, though he did respond verbally, “It’s actually not all that hard,” he held up a silver linen t-shirt that was made for Trixie, “Sorry, I could only make your clothing like your hair color. There was no purple dye. I hope it is alright.”

Trixie looked over it and actually found herself impressed he had managed to make something wearable on the first try it seemed. Trixie bit her lip as she realized just how into it he appeared to be, as soon after holding up the garment he went back to working on the matching pants he was making.

“…you’re liking this, aren’t you?”

Extremely handsome, not too masculine overall, a possible interest in sewing…

“Actually, yes,” Kael confirmed, having gotten quite enthralled by the activity as the day progressed. It required focus to do right, and the idea that he might one day improve enough to make something…nice…for Trixie to wear made him all the more determined.

Of course, he had no idea that this made him appear as if he played for the other team in her eyes, and so he blissfully went on making clothing for her as Trixie found herself wondering why she was worried.

It wasn’t as if they were actually involved or anything, or that she was romantically inclined towards her fabulous Elven partner. Nothing like that at all she told herself.

To change the subject from Kael’s fabulousness, Trixie got up from where she was sitting the moment her host was finished bandaging her various cuts and approached her determined partner. As she watched him work a part of her mind realized something odd about making clothing for someone else, someone who wasn’t even there.

“How do I know these will fit?”

“Well, I didn’t have you to model for me so I did my best.”

Kael was pretty sure he had every curve of her body etched into his memory. After all, he had quite the experience every night trying not to look at them for what seemed like hours.

Admittedly, he had to make her pants quite large to fit his large hipped partner, but he deemed it worth it. It was better than making her a skirt, which could be looked up, or making a more form fitting pair of pants, which would drive him insane at every point of the day in addition to his normally frustrating nights.

Trixie picked up and began to pull on the shirt only to realize that it wasn’t quite taut, “This is so loose.”

“Better to err on the side of caution. If it was too tight your b—I mean it might rip with how much wear and tear they’ll take.”

Making her clothing went both ways. If he made it appealing to him, it would also appeal to other men, and Kael didn’t want her to draw unnecessary attention. Not in that way at least. So loose, form concealing clothing it was.

Besides, it’d help him not notice her body. So win-win, even if Trixie found it weird.

Trixie bought the excuse, “You’re right…” she paused to look the shirt over more, and quickly began to think about wearing it the moment she could change, “Thanks.”

It was then that Trixie noticed that across the table where Salma was working there was a set of red cloth and some leather pads dyed red as well. It seemed that she was making some kind of reinforced clothing for Kael, which Trixie considered a good idea since Kael was determined to not let her get hurt, and who was she to go against his wishes?

“You really like red.”

Kael shrugged nonchalantly as he continued to sew. He wanted to finish the pants now so that later in the night he could perhaps do socks, which he had noticed Trixie didn’t seem to remember existed, “I feel as if I have an affinity towards it, though it’s not my favorite color.”

Trixie ran a hand through his hair, “Well I think it fits you, I mean after all—”

She paused as she almost admitted his true identity as leader of the Blood Elves…a race which had red as one of its main colors. To go along with their cover and to make up for her momentary falter, Trixie shifted her sentence as she leaned in close to Kael’s face.

“You look so handsome in it.”

He blushed as he felt her lips press against his left cheek, though it was followed by a very soft whisper.

“I’m keeping our cover. Say anything and die.”

As if to break up what might possibly become an indecent exchange of kissing in front of the young children, Saldean spoke up and started with a laugh.

“While you two were busy I prepared some ingredients for a stew. We’ll be cooking some meals for the homeless here in Westfall. Would you care to assist us?”

To tease Kael about his less than masculine new hobby, Trixie needled him with a sweet but patronizing voice, “Of course. I am sure Kael loves cooking.”

Even awestruck by the warmth on his cheek, Kael wasted no time in retorting her statement, “If it has to do with plants, I’m sure Trixie knows better how to prepare them.”

Salma assumed it was because of her being a vegetarian or on a diet, her husband didn’t care, but Trixie was plain confused why Kael would say something so odd, “Why would you think—”

Horses eat plants.

Trixie wanted to retaliate in some fashion, but she couldn’t because it’d draw attention to the issue rather than let it fade.

It was in this manner that Trixie found herself cooking a meal with marginal help from Kael, who just smugly grinned at her as he mostly sat to the side with his beautiful sewing.

Trixie wanted to grumble and complain, but she didn’t as she made the food lest she appear ungrateful for all she was being given by the farmers. After Trixie and Salma finished cooking the latter thanked the former sincerely, even bowing to her momentarily.

“Bless your heart, dear. These poor orphans haven't had a hot meal in days.
And it does look like we will have enough left over to help feed some of the homeless of Westfall.”

Trixie averted her eyes and began to poke the ground with one foot, one hand rubbing the back of her neck nervously while the other hung at her side, “It’s nothing. I may have even done them harm with how bad it might be.”

Salma’s husband gave a hearty laugh from the nearby dining table where he and Kael both sat, “Oh nonsense. It's been many years since anyone has offered to lend us aid, you two. Had you not come along, we might not have made it through the coming winter. You have proven yourself to be selfless individuals - people that we can trust. I can only wish we had something of value to offer you.”

This time Kael spoke up, given how nervous he could see Trixie was at receiving genuine praise and not something more superficial, “Everything you have granted us is more than enough. We are grateful for your hospitality.”

Salma began to pack up the stew when she realized how it was already mid-afternoon, when she ought to see about getting things prepared for the night and finishing the rest of the tasks she had to do. The stew ought to go to the mouths it was meant for though, and while the three orphans in the house were currently enjoying it along with some bread there were still many other hungry souls out there.

“Our little girl works at Sentinel Hill and is very close with the homeless of Westfall. Perhaps she can help distribute what we’ve made tonight. Could you run an errand for us to her?”

Kael wasn’t looking forward to carrying a lot of stew a long distance, but perhaps he could convince Trixie to carry him if he carried it all, “You mean Hope? I was meaning to ask, she seems a bit shy. Is there a reason for that?”

Salma and her husband exchanged glances, sighed, and then she spoke up with some reservation. It seemed to be a touchy, private subject that Kael almost regretted asking about the moment he saw their expressions.

“About four years ago, in the dead of night, a little girl walked right into our farmhouse and collapsed on the floor. Nobody had a clue as to her identity. The poor little thing had no recollection of who she was or where she came from - truly a lost soul.”

Salma paused before smiling to herself. She remembered that day well, and while it brought her almost to tears to think about what the poor girl had to have been through it did not make her any less happy about the family they’ve become since.

“Soon after, we adopted the little girl and named her Hope - for that is what she represented,” Salma continued to smile as she finished her tale, “She is now a very young lady, caring for the destitute and homeless of Westfall. Now, before it gets cold, please take my Westfall stew to her at Sentinel Hill, south of here.”

Any follow up to that conversation was cut off by the sound of hacking across the room, where the young Kikka had tried eating a piece of bread too big for her small throat. She threw it up along with some of the stew she had ingested, causing Salma to rush over to her side like a mother ought to.

“Oh Kikka, chew before you swallow!”

“Sorry mommy…” the child apologized as Trixie took one container of stew and motioned for Kael to take the other.

“Well, we’ll take the stew! See you all later!”

Kael didn’t know why Trixie rushed outside, but after they escaped the house and she blanched he began to figure out why.

“Bleh!”

“Bleh?” Kael joked, amused by the random noise she made.

Trixie wanted to cross her arms as they moved away from the house, though the idea that she could transform and make this easier on them both did not cross her mind, “Yes, bleh. I don’t know how they can stand it,” she stuck her tongue out as if she was still disgusted to make up for how she could not cross her arms crossly, “Skipping past the icky-smushy page would be nice.”

Kael smirked as he imagined a way to make a conversation go right over Trixie’s head. It was becoming his favorite pastime.

“Perhaps adoption would suit you then?”

As the two continued on their path to Sentinel Hill Trixie paused to think. It did not take her long to come to a conclusion though as she soon shrugged her shoulders. She had taken a moment to change right before they finished cooking and was finding herself comfortable in the clothes Kael helped make for her…even if they were pretty loose.

“Eh, that feels a little less personal. After all, why would I deprive the world of more of myself?” Trixie laughed haughtily, unknowingly sending a chill down Kael’s spine, “What do you think about adoption?”

That was something that had been toying in Kael’s mind ever since he found out about his identity. Wouldn’t certain things be expected of him as the Prince and future King of his people?

“If I am to be king I believe I ought to have my own bloodline carried, but so long as that is fulfilled I would not mind also adopting,” seeing Trixie nod made him grow a devilish grin. Perhaps he could use this topic to investigate something, “After all, it’s not as if I won’t have the resources to have as many as I please.”

Trixie glowered at him, “Are you talking about a harem or are you referencing the fact that you will be rich?”

“…I can’t have both?”

He said it innocently yet smugly enough to invoke the reaction he was hoping from her: jealousy. While perhaps not 100% pure unadulterated jealousy, Trixie was not pleased by him saying he was interested in a harem, which she would have no stakes in if she didn’t have some emotional attachment to him of some fashion. In reality Kael would just be happy to stay with his dear partner every step of the way without anyone else, but he could feign a different interest if it meant revealing what Trixie’s thoughts were.

Trixie threw her nose up in the air, her voice sharp as she berated him, “Hmmmph. Good luck finding women of any worth who would be willing to be a part of such a system.”

“Oh yes, I must work on my pick up lines for later. ‘Excuse me miss, I am a rich and powerful King. Would you like to join me in the palace?’ Does that work?”

The sarcasm soaked into his words made Trixie snap, “Oh quiet, showoff. I never pictured you as the more-than-one sort of man.”

There it was again, but it was about time Kael revealed his ruse so as to not anger Trixie in any permanent fashion, “That’s because I’m not, but it is fun to see you get ruffled about it.”

“I’m not ruffled!” she denied as her voice grew increasingly agitated, directly contradicting her statement.

Kael let out a nervous cough to bridge back to the previous topic, “Anyways, to answer your question, yes, I can see myself having an adopted child or two.”

“Good.”

Kael smirked. She might not even know it yet, but he could tell there was something there.

“Why is that good?” he smarmily joked.

“Stop questioning me Kael, we’re here!”

Trixie was right, because in the near distance on the path they were headed was what each of them assumed was the destination: a large circular set of disconnected walls with gaping holes in their defenses that all sat around a tower that served as the main structure, and all around the landscape there were enough people with the appearance of stragglers to populate the entire area into the hundreds.

Sentinel Hill really looked like it could use a hand.

As they approached Trixie found herself a bit frightened about the prospect of giving homeless people food. The whole street rat thing made her feel off, as if it was something else she could feel at the tip of her mind but not at the point of conscious thought. As such she gave Kael the stew she had been carrying and opted to go look around rather than directly interact with the cause of her unease.

“I did the last big thing Kael all alone while you were sewing like a little girl, so you’re up next. I want to look around.”

Kael tried to chase after her but the encumbrance of twice the amount of stew containers kept him from actually doing so.

“Wait, Trixie—”

She was already out of sight since Kael dropped his gaze to focus on the wobbling stew in his arms, at which point he lost track of her.

He sighed at his fortune. Now he was going to have to help with twice as much stew, since both he and Trixie correctly assumed that when they got to their destination they would be obligated to help the teen distribute all the stew.

“Well, damn.”

Trixie’s words sunk into him then, causing Kael to shout after her.

“And sewing is a legitimate profession!”

Some of the disgruntled, disheveled crowd nearby gave him a look that Kael indignantly returned.

“What are you looking at? I’m perfectly secure.”

As Trixie slipped away from her poor partner she tried to find a place to go that had less street rats, a place where perhaps she could sort out her feelings and maybe remember something. On the far side of the settlement she noticed a patch of trees that did not have downtrodden people by them and so Trixie set it as her new destination.

On her way Trixie passed by the tower and found herself overall unimpressed. It was not even more than a few stories tall, ending at about the height the stonewalls surrounding the area were made out of…though one must wonder what the purpose was of having a defensive perimeter that did not fully encircle your base?

On her way past the tower Trixie overheard a conversation from the structure that caught her sensitive ears given the odd word one man said.

“Might I ask, what's with the worgen in the stocks?”

Worgen? That didn’t sound familiar to Trixie. Stocks did though, and Trixie assumed it was a derivative form of “stockade”.

Trixie moved to get a better look at those talking, though it was all she could do to keep from gasping at the sight of their conversation’s subject.

“We caught this beast skulking by the farms up north. He is unrepentant and easily agitated. Keep your distance, lieutenant.”

Held in stocks as mentioned by one of the two men speaking was a werewolf of sorts, neither wolf nor man, with grey and white fur as well as a dark mane of hair on his head. His small, bloodshot eyes served as a tool to further creep Trixie out, and his struggling in his bonds did not make him anything less than intimidating. He appeared large enough to tear a man apart with his bare hands, or rather claws, if given a moment.

The so called Worgen snarled as he continued to try and free himself violently, “When I break out of these stocks I'm going to rip out your heart and devour it whole!”

One of the two men walked away, leaving the other to look at the Worgen with amusement, “Wow, the marshal wasn't kidding.”

The man walks over to the Worgen and smirks as he pulls out a pair of sunglasses, “But is your bark...”

Trixie cringed not from fear of the Worgen anymore but rather of fear about the line she was sure was about to be said.

The Human finishes slipping on his sunglasses as he speaks, “Worse than your bite?”

“That joke was in terrible taste,” Trixie groaned. Okay, so there were wolf people. That was a thing. A terrifying thing, but a thing nonetheless.

She continued on her previous path to the trees without further interruption, something she wasn’t entirely sure she was content with. She had almost hoped Kael would run after her and chastise her for abandoning him…

A noise faintly familiar to Trixie drew her attention from her thoughts, because it was a noise she hadn’t heard since she arrived in Westfall.

“What was that?”

She couldn’t exactly determine what it was, but Trixie still wanted to seek it out and see what was giving the sound of an animal that ought not to be this far south.

After some brief wandering, Trixie found a Mana Wyrm chained to one of the trees she had approached. It was out of sight of the main encampment of the Humans and as such did not appear to be a part of the city, but Trixie couldn’t really find an easy explanation as to why such a being would be right here. Did they have these here too? For some reason that felt odd and wrong, given that it was the opposite half of a continent.

“Naaa…” the animal weakly let out, its normally floating and shining body limply hanging on the ground. It appeared skinnier and bluer than normal Mana Wyrms, though Trixie doubted the latter had much to do with the former. What she could see though was that the poor animal was starving, and that was simply unacceptable.

“Awww, poor thing,” Trixie cooed as she approached it and lowered herself down to its level. It was most definitely chained to the tree, but a little frost magic to chill the chain so much it became brittle solved that dilemma.

Even freed, the Wyrm did not get up. It seemed disheartened, as if it didn’t have a will to rise.

Trixie ran a hand gently over its smooth scales. It really was like an eel in its texture and that made touching it both a little weird as well as nice, since it was soft.

“What are you doing so far away from home?”

“Naaa…” it responded, its linear body curving to have both its glowing eyes look up at Trixie.

Well, someone left it for dead, and Trixie felt like she owed the Mana Wyrm community a favor after the damage she was told to do to it previously. As such she continued to pet it with the intention of making it want to be her pet.

“Don’t you want to come with me?” she gestured to the broken chain, “See, you don’t have chains on you anymore. No more mean humans to trap you.”

It didn’t move though. Whoever left it there must have really instilled a sense that it ought to stay there in the Wyrm or else Trixie could not explain why it was being so stubborn.

“I promise I don’t bite,” Trixie looked around to see if anyone was looking before she followed up with a joke, “Well, at least while I’m in this body. I think I may have nibbled on Kael last night since he has some marks on his neck that don’t look like claws, but I was dreaming about food, okay? Nothing weird about that.”

The Wyrm continued to look at Trixie just as it had, but the fact that she was being stared at made Trixie self-conscious.

“Oh don’t give me that look. We’re just partners. I’ve only known him a few days. What, do you think I want to be his queen or something? Don’t be ridiculous.”

Her words seemed to be having no real effect on the Wyrm as Trixie continued to indulge herself in self-accosting behavior.

“Hey, this isn’t about me!” Trixie groaned. Why was this so difficult? Couldn’t every Huntard do it? “Why won’t you come with me? I promise I’ll find you something to eat. You look starved you poor little Wyrm.”

The mention of food made the little beast rise. Seeing that she had its attention, Trixie smiled at the Wyrm as it began to float finally.

“That’s a good Wyrm. Come, we’ll go see how Kael is doing. I bet he’s done something to scrape together a few coins, and so we can all afford something to eat.”

Trixie stood back up and began to walk away only to realize it was not following her. She turned back and noticed its hesitant budging towards her, as if it was not sure it should or not, but with a beckoning hand Trixie managed to call it to her side.

“Good boy…or girl…” she looked over the reptile to no avail, “I can’t tell to be honest.”

The Wyrm began to float about randomly around Trixie which ended up giving her an idea.

“Boy one spin around me, girl two spins.”

The Mana Wyrm did two laps around her and Trixie pumped a fist into the air to celebrate the occasion.

“Haha, now we outnumber Kael!”

“I smell Westfall stew! Mother sent you!?”

Kael had just walked right into the tower, where a guard directed him after he politely asked where to find Hope, when the cheerful voice of Hope met his ears. He now got a better look at her than the other night when she slipped by him, though all it ended up doing was affirm what he saw previously: a teenage girl about the age of the next two oldest Saldean orphans put together wearing a white and grey outfit that formed a monochrome look with her black hair.

“Yes, she had me come along to bring it to you.”

Hope nodded and helped Kael set it down so she could begin transferring it to some nearby containers to distribute it in, “There are many people here who simply no longer have the means or inclination to keep themselves fed. They have given up hope,” she paused at the pun to smile at Kael, “Do you understand what it means to be left so hopeless as to stop caring about life? We must work together to show them that there is hope. That with the dawning day a better life comes.”

The way she smiled at her own unfortunate life…Kael had seen that once before, and it didn’t sit right with him any more this time than the last.

Hope held out a few bowls of the stew to Kael, still smiling as she spoke, “Take my mother's stew and help feed the homeless around Sentinel Hill.”

The fact that someone who was likely half his age or less was giving him orders made Kael want to laugh, but he chose not to in order to not demean her, “A bit bossy for a little girl, aren’t you?”

She chuckled at his observation, “Oh you have no idea. Now do it, please.”

Kael actually wasn’t all that ready to go about doing this without first learning a bit more about the location, so he could perhaps avoid any unsavory company, “Mind if I ask a couple questions?”

“Have you fed the homeless?” Hope cheekily responded, in effect implying that she would talk to him after he was done doing his job.

To that Kael relented, for he could feel a distinct stubbornness in this girl, “Fine, fine.”

Kael went about distributing the stew to various members of the community, though he wished they had the willpower to come to the stew instead of forcing him to get up and approach each and every one of them with it. These people really did seem to be without hope, as if they had checked out of life itself. Was this the result of a city casting out its own members to a dangerous land?

“Thank you…” one member of the community said to Kael as he gave them what likely was their first meal of the day, but as Kael began to leave them behind to continue he was brought to a halt just like Trixie had been.

“The Defias said they are recruiting…”

“What, you want to be a criminal?”

“If it means we get fed, why not? What has Stormwind done for us?”

Defias…Stormwind…Kael continued to listen in on two of the nearby poor men with definite interest.

“But the Defias got crushed a few years back by that joint expedition. How are they gonna pay up?”

“I heard they just got a huge payoff from somebody. They’re richer than ever, and they wanna use the money to expand their numbers—”

It was then that the two men noticed Kael lingering nearby them, and the one that had been speaking turned to face the Elf with a dark glare.

“Hey, what are you looking at, pointy ears?”

Kael placed the last of the stew down by the feet of the man before holding his hands out in a gesture suggesting he was nonchalant about the conversation.

“Nothing. But if Stormwind has wronged you, why not take a stand against it?”

One of the men looked at the other with curiosity, “You hear that?” he turned back to Kael with a furrowed brow, “What, you one of the Defias?”

“No, just a traveler who is not so fond of oppressive authority right now. So go ahead and strike back at the ones who have ruined your lives,” Kael joked at first, though his voice became colder and colder with every word after that, “Just be careful and don’t let it slip up into harming innocents. I hear the Defias is a plague on this land. There are good people here. I won’t tell if you join them, in fact I’m all for the idea, but if I run into you and see you harming an innocent soul there will be no mercy.”

Kael supported these Humans in getting back at their leaders who had so carelessly cast them aside, but the harming of innocents crossed a definite line. While some might just see this as a black and white issue of thieves versus order, he saw it more as a battle between those in power and those who were powerless. In this case he felt more for the underdog, though that did not mean he would excuse bad behavior not directed at the deserving foe.

“You’re a weird guy, Elf,” one of the men took the stew and began to back away from Kael, who was beginning to frighten them with his tone, “Thanks for the stew.”

“You’re welcome. Just be smart with what you choose to do.”

The poor mostly had been on the outskirts, so it took a moment for Kael to return to the tower. When he did return though it was to a smiling Hope, who held out a pouch of coins like what he had received before.

“You have a kind heart, Kael’thas. You have done a good thing, today, and that act will reflect back upon you when judgment day comes.”

Once again she left without saying much more, but Kael felt no desire to chase her down. She must have her reasons for being so shy, and he wasn’t about to go and make her uncomfortable over nothing.

“What an eccentric kid…”

Kael opened the pouch and found not silver pieces inside, but rather gold pieces. He hid the shock from his face quickly though given the hundreds of destitute souls around him, some of whom were considering joining a thieves guild. He didn’t think everyone to be bad here, but he was worried that someone unscrupulous would take the gift he was just given.

“Kael, look what I found!”

By the time Kael turned around he was face to face with Trixie, who had run over to him after finally tracking him down. He had been moving around so much she had a little difficulty finding him, and since she hadn’t met Hope she was not able to use her to help.

Kael instantly noticed the floating animal by Trixie’s side, since it seemed quite interested in floating about in quite the energetic fashion. It being there did not explain it being there though, so Kael decided to confront the mind boggling subject before acknowledging the subject of taking in stray animals, “What is a Mana Wyrm doing here?”

Trixie really didn’t care. She had a beautiful and friendly pet now that glowed with magic. Perfect for someone like her, “I don’t know, but isn’t she pretty?”

Kael had to admit that the animal had some beauty to it with how it shimmered with magic, but he was still worried about the implications of it being here.

“Someone might own her. Have you seen any other Elves?”

Trixie scoffed and crossed her arms, “Are you accusing me of stealing Trixie junior?”

“No, not at all,” Kael paused before scrutinizing the abominable name just used, “And we are not naming her Trixie junior.”

“I think the name suits her fine,” came the obvious disagreement from the first Trixie, who was quite indignant that Kael was not honoring her right as the one who found it to name it.

“And what, pray tell, would you have named it if it was a male?”

“Ka—why do you keep asking me such weird questions?”

So she would have named it Kael Junior. Not obvious or anything. So she was seeing this as their “baby” of sorts? Kael sighed as he realized that this was not the kind of adoption he had meant earlier, as well as that they weren’t exactly in the best position to be taking in other mouths to feed.

Still, the fact that Trixie out of nowhere had a Mana Wyrm made Kael unsettled. It wouldn’t be this far south if someone didn’t bring it this far south, meaning it belonged to someone else, “Did you steal it?”

Trixie became grumpy as she found herself defending her illicit action, “Someone left her out in chains, and she is starving. I couldn’t just leave her.”

To that Kael did not have a further objection. If they were removing it from the care of someone abusive then perhaps this was for the best, even if it should only last as long as until they returned north, “So what are we going to name her?”

“Lulamoon the third?” Trixie asked cutely, hoping to get this one to work.

Kael glared at her. He knew she was egotistical, but this was just silly, “Trixie.”

“What? Lulamoon sounds better than Sunstrider, which is why I used it as our last name.”

“I think Trixie Sunstrider would be just fine,” Kael said with a smirk, knowing its real meaning would go over Trixie’s head given her seeming obliviousness.

As expected Trixie had no real reaction to it, “We’ll do that later, but for now we need a name for our new pet. If you are so clever, why don’t you come up with one?”

Kael was forced to actually think now. He had taken it for a given that Trixie would put all the effort into this, so he hadn’t even come up with a single idea better than Trixie’s, “How about…”

The Mana Wyrm began to make noise as if it was voicing its opinion, except it could only make the one noise, “Naaaa…naaaaa….”

The noises together gave Kael an idea, though as he said it he wasn’t quite so sure about it, “Na-na?”

Trixie scoffed at the name, “Nana? What, like an old grandma?”

“Nana” began floating around Kael at an excited pace, making it seem like it was displaying approval. Trixie took a step back and gasped, taken aback that the Wyrm didn’t like her choices.

“…Trixie Lulamoon the third, please tell me you don’t like that silly name?”

“Naaa,” the Wyrm bobbed up and down in a manner that resembled a nod. This made Trixie finally throw in the towel, and she groaned as she conceded the naming war.

“Fiiiiiiine, Nana it is.”

Kael pointed at Trixie and smiled while giving his first command to their new pet.

“Nana, go to Trixie.”

The Mana Wyrm happily floated over to Trixie and brushed up against her face.

“That’s a good girl,” Trixie laughed as the slippery feeling of the Wyrm tickled her cheek.

Trixie was glad she ditched Kael now. It resulted in a nice pet, even if it didn’t like her names for it.

Author's Note

Nana likes going for walks and sleeping at her master's feet in bed. All animals are dogs after all. :rainbowlaugh: Especially Nana!

Has anyone done Deadmines, which is located in Westfall? Where you fight the Defias? Anyone done the questline in Westfall? Just curious.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! Comments are :heart:

Rest Experience 3: Heart-stone

A/N: Special thanks to Amethyst Blade, GamerGoddessNayru, SilentMech, refferee, nioniosbbbb, heliotrope, Quixotic Enigma, and GriffonSpade for your comments last chapter! They were very nice and supportive, and they helped me put this together even as life continues to go on and drain energy away from these more fun endeavors. Your comments do help offset that though, so please continue letting me know what you think!

I hope you all enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

As Trixie and Kael made their way back to the Saldean farm the former spent the time complaining as she tried to get Nana to do tricks the Wyrm had not been taught yet, and Kael spent it listening to those they passed by. Since hearing some of the poor speak about joining the Defias he was far less trusting of those around them, since the bandits could have a million reasons for coming after him even if it was just by chance. Anybody could be a part of the Defias Brotherhood, and the Defias were quite the threat, so anybody could be a threat.

The long ears belonging to the Elf allowed him to listen in quite well, and two seeming farmers walking the other way gave him some interesting insight despite their hushed whispers.

“What are Elves doing here?”

“Dunno, Furlbrow. I hear a huntin’ party is comin’ through. Lady leadin’ it doesn’t seem very friendly.”

A lady Elf was hunting for something? Kael’s stomach knotted up at that idea, since the coincidence of an Elf looking for something or someone right after they left Silvermoon City where a lady Elf tried capturing them for a bounty was too much to be a coincidence…

“Really? Who could they be hunting?”

“Ehhh, who cares? They’re going around and askin’ people all kinds of stuff, but it ain’t none of our business.”

That was all the conversation gave Kael as the two other men left his hearing range, though it was enough to give the issue further thought.

Trixie was still trying to get Nana to roll over in mid-air.

It took until they returned to the farm for Kael to come to a decision given the information he had. They had found a Mana Wyrm chained up and he had heard about a hunting party going around and looking for them.

“Trixie, we will fulfill our obligation to the Saldeans and then depart tomorrow after we have paid our debt to them.”

The more dominant of the two was surprised for her very passive partner to suddenly speak in a commanding, in-charge way. While they were equals in the partnership, Kael had always seemed happy to let Trixie have her way even if he snarked a little along the way.

So, she spoke with a little confusion as she finished making a spot for Nana on their bed, “What? I’m liking it here. And we only just got here.”

“Call it a hunch, but chances are we are being hunted.”

Trixie laughed haughtily as she made herself comfortable on the modest bed, “Oh please, who could possibly have found us?”

Kael sat down beside her and reached to pet their new companion on the top of its head, “It’s not as if we have the undying loyalty of those two woman who helped us secure passage here. They easily could have let it slip that they let us travel here, and all it would take is someone intent on finding us to hear that…”

“But we took the last Dragonhawk, right?” Trixie reasoned, still wanting to stay.

“It also returned home, not to mention that there must be other Dragonhawks in other settlements nearby Silvermoon.”

That elicited a sigh from Trixie, who couldn’t argue back against the possibility that someone may have found them who was less than friendly, “I hate it when you’re right…”

“Then you must despise me, because I usually am.”

Trixie shoved him playfully on the shoulder, “Hey, I’m the haughty, arrogant one.”

“No, you’re the haughtier, more arrogant one. You just make me seem completely selfless in comparison.”

Her laughter and amused tone made Kael smile, “Flattery will get you everywhere with me.”

He laughed back and brought a hand up to pet her hair, “I’ll keep that in mind, my egotistical friend.”

Trixie squirmed out of his reach to escape the tussling of her hair, “Don’t push it though. I know where you sleep.”

Kael glanced down at Trixie’s curved features and let out a joking sigh, “Uncomfortably beside you, I may say.”

The reason she made him uncomfortable was beyond Trixie’s comprehension, but she still felt a little guilty for the bruise located on Kael’s neck that the shredders didn’t cause.

As such, she went into denial about what she believed he might be referencing when Kael actually had no idea that she had nibbled on his neck the night before, “Hey, it’s not like I elbow you or bite you in my sleep or anything like that. What do you mean uncomfortable?”

A knock on their open door interrupted their playful argument and revealed the presence of two onlookers who were holding some boxes in their arms.

“We heard something about tomorrow. Planning on leaving so soon?” Salma asked the two Elves as they got up to welcome the owners of the house into the room.

Trixie nodded, finally verbally agreeing to Kael’s plan, “Yes, unfortunately.”

Salma nodded understandingly and held out the box in her arms to Kael, “Well then, if that’s the case, here is your outfit we were working on. I just put the finishing touches on it for you.”

Inside of the box was the red mixture of cloth and leather that made up Kael’s light armor. It would protect him far better than his ragged robes given the padding, though it ran opposite to Trixie’s own outfit given how hers had none…not that she needed padding in the way some females would have it. Kael had not been skilled enough to even weave leather into the set of clothing he made for Trixie, and so she was stuck with plainer and less protective gear.

Of course, Kael never intended to let someone lay a hand on her, so perhaps it was best they used what leather they had in his own clothing.

Farmer Saldean withdrew something from the long box he brought upstairs, revealing a worn sword, “And, if you are going to be leaving us in the near future, take this blade with you.”

He placed it into a sheath and held it out to Kael, as it was a bastard sword that Saldean believed too large for a lady like Trixie. None of them knew at the time she still had the strength of her equine form, so they all acted under the incorrect assessment of her physical abilities.

“I know you have your magic, but I would hate for any harm to come to you,” Saldean explained as Kael thanked him with a half bow.

Feeling a little left out in terms of gifts, Trixie decided to make a case for herself not being left defenseless, “May I perhaps have something to protect myself as well? I would hate for Kael to have to do all of the fighting.”

“Don’t worry, dear,” Salma retrieved a blade from the box she held and gave it to Trixie, “This is a dagger we found hidden in the house one day. It probably belongs to someone we’ve housed, but it’s been years so I don’t think they’d mind.”

The blade was broken, as if it was actually once a sword and later refurbished to be usable as a dagger instead. The T shaped handle had a small red gem right below the blade, and the small bulbous end to the handle made it easy to grip for someone as unaccustomed as Trixie since her hand would have a hard time slipping off.

Even now with a weapon of her own Trixie felt guilty at receiving this charity of sorts. Sure, they worked for their keep, but it was all because of the goodwill being shown to them, “I feel kind of bad about all you have given us.”

“Think nothing of it. We like showing our gratitude to those who aid us. You have already done more than anyone else has for us in years,” Salma said with a smile on her face and in her voice. Having a helping hand was nice, especially since the orphans outside of Hope were too young to really do much.

Her husband spoke next, bringing a hand to his chin as he thought back to then, “Yes, and come to think of it we had the pleasure of meeting Elves too. High Elves, much like yourselves, though they came with a few Humans too. Five people with a mission from Stormwind.”

Trixie and Kael looked to one another with the same tenseness to them. Saldean’s voice had sounded a bit fake at the mention of High Elves, as if he was mentally correcting himself about the first word and finishing with the second.

It was Trixie who mustered the courage to admit what they both realized the Saldeans likely had figured out in one way or another, “I…I am afraid we have not been entirely honest with you.”

Salma placed the box in her arms down so she could raise a hand to silence Trixie, a smile still on the kind hostess’s face, “Don’t worry. We know why you kept your identities hidden. We may be a little bit removed from the capital and politics, but we know the name of the Lord of the Blood Elves when we hear it.”

“I suppose we should be more careful with our identities in the future,” Trixie sheepishly replied all the while mentally kicking herself for not coming up with a fake name for Kael, since that was what seemed to have given them away.

Noticing the sudden worry on Kael’s face that came up with the revelation of his identity, Saldean spoke up and placed a reassuring hand on the Elf’s shoulder as he used the other to lean the sword’s box against the wall, “Don’t worry son, we won’t let anybody know. I think you are smart to leave sooner rather than later, since some passerby’s came asking about some uncomfortable things. We didn’t say anything, but that doesn’t mean they won’t return and find out on their own. I think you have bounty hunters looking for you.”

Kael smiled at the man and found himself once again bowing his head.

“Very well. I think we should stay tomorrow and do whatever you would have us do though, as I would feel bad about leaving you all as you are. The situation at Sentinel Hill gave me a true insight into the plight of your people. Anything we can do to help you before our departure shall be done.”

Saldean laughed at the idea of being bowed to by royalty, and even more so at the idea of telling him what to do.

The farmer removed a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it off to Kael, “I actually put together a list for you of people and things you may want to look into, though don’t stay so long as to put yourself at risk, you hear?”

Kael nodded and offered a hand out to shake hands after receiving the list of tasks, “Thank you for everything, Mr. Saldean.”

“And thank you for giving a little hope to this backwards community. You are welcome here anytime, so don’t make yourself a stranger when you are through with your days of hiding.”

The married couple left the couple that argued as if they were married, and after they were alone Kael gave the paper a look along with Trixie.

“Speak to Gryan Stoutmantle, check out Moonbrook, investigate propaganda, learn about the past, find missing Stormwind Captain...”

It sounded like it would be a busy day ahead of them, so some relaxation ought to be in order. They’d need it to get everything done at an early enough hour to leave before their pursuer located them.

Kael was about ready to get ready for bed when another voice piped up.

“Is that a Mana Wyrm?”

Trixie had been about to close the door when suddenly Katz, Letz, and Kikka were in the doorway and being nosy. Katz had been the one to speak up, as he was the tallest and had been able to see the Wyrm the best as his two adopted siblings each looked in with their heads atop one another like a totem pole.

The fact that the child knew what the animal comfortably napping on a blanket was made Trixie quite confused. How could he possibly know something like that? “Why yes, it is. How did you know about that? I did not think them to be local to here.”

Katz shook his head as he and his siblings entered the room to get a better view, “No, they live around magic places I think, but there’s a Hearthstone card for them!”

“Heart-stone?” Kael questioned, unfamiliar with the term.

Letz spoke up next as he pulled out a stack of cards with light blue backs with a blonde border to them, “Yeah, Hearthstone! It’s a card game with all sorts of creatures and monsters we play!”

A game with creatures in it, including cute Mana Wyrms? That piqued the interest of Trixie, who gestured to the table of the room so she could perhaps see a demonstration.

“Can I see this game?”

Kikka grabbed Trixie by her pants and tried to tug her in the direction of the table, “Sure, we can teach you how to play!”

Trixie let herself be led over as Letz and Katz got out a lot of cards they seemingly had stuffed in their pockets, and after a minute they had a few decks of cards arranged on the table.

Katz held out a card as he took a seat across from where Trixie set herself, “Here is the Hearthstone card of the Mana Wyrm.”

Trixie took the card into her own hands and began to read it. There was a crystal on the top left with the number one over it, a small sword with the number one over it, a picture of a small drop of blood on the lower right with the number three, a picture of a Mana Wyrm covered in light purple energy on the top half, and some more text on the bottom half.

“Gains +1 attack when you play a spell…” Trixie, still new to it all, had no idea what that meant, “What constitutes a spell in this game?”

Letz spoke up as he stood to the side of the table in-between Trixie and Katz, “There are three main types of cards: creatures, spells, and…uh…”

“Weapons!” Kikka piped up cheerfully despite the content of her statement.

Katz continued from there, “Yeah, and there are nine classes to play from which all have different cards only they can use. Some cards can be used by any class, but some like Mana Wyrm only can be used by one. My class, Hunter, gets a lot of beasts to use instead!”

Trixie snorted at the mention of Huntards, though she continued to listen because Kikka pulled on the side of her shirt to get her attention.

“Mages get Mana Wyrm, so you should play as the pretty lady!” Kikka sort-of explained as she held out one of the decks to Trixie.

That made Trixie scoff, “I am a pretty lady.”

Once Trixie had a deck in front of her Katz took it as an indication that they could begin playing the game, “Okay, I’ll teach you on the go. Let’s play!”

The game was quite simple to pick up and the rules simplistic, and Trixie found herself getting the hang of it quite quickly. Kael sat to the side with a more bored expression, not really amused by this sort of thing but still happy just because it was a relaxing moment.

Well, that and it was funny to see Trixie get riled up over a card game.

A Mana Wyrm card played by Trixie attacked Katz, but Katz flipped a card over he had played earlier to reveal its effect, “Misdirection! When I get attacked, your creature hits something else randomly!”

Trixie frowned as she looked at the board full of creatures and the two cards used to represent them, a woman mage and an orange skinned being wearing an animal skin, “How do we decide what it’ll hit?”

Letz pulled something from his pocket, “Well, we’ll roll a dice. Just gotta give everything a number, then we roll it. I made some for all sorts of occasions!”

Trixie accepted this method of randomly determining things, and so after they gave everything a number she rolled the dice and hoped for the best.

Katz laughed childishly at the result of the Mana Wyrm’s now redirected attack, “And it hits you directly!”

Trixie turned to the side of the room with the bed and frowned. Kael was sitting on the bed and stroking the malnourished animal that they had fed some scraps after coming inside, “Nana, how could you?”

The animal woke from its brief sleep and looked up at her blankly with glowing eyes, “Naaa?”

“Don’t give me that look. This is all your fault that I’m losing now. You shouldn’t hit your owner like that. Say sorry.”

Kael sighed as Trixie chastised the oblivious animal, “Trixie, you do know it likely doesn’t have a clue what’s going on, right?”

“Quiet Kael, I am playing a children’s card game. This is very serious business.”

There would be no reasoning with her, so Kael just let it be and let her resume her game. After a few more turns of it Trixie drew a new card that she hadn’t read before. Its name was Pyroblast, and its picture was that of a giant fireball.

“Deal ten damage…”

Trixie had a thought. They started with thirty health, which meant that this would take out an entire third of Katz’s health…which might be all he had left.

Remembering how he took some extra damage from a creature he hit with a weapon instead of killing with a minion, Trixie smiled at her opponent, “Katz, how much health do you have?”

“Ten,” he smiled. She only had two, and the Hunter class was allowed to do that much damage each turn by default. He would win when it was his turn.

If he had one more health this wouldn’t work, as Trixie had no creatures left. She let out a relieved sigh as she placed the card down and removed his ten remaining health, “Oh, good, I win. I was worried there for a moment.”

“Wait, what?!” Katz replied in the most shocked voice he could muster. He had thought he was going to win, but instead this complete beginner defeated him.

Trixie thought back to what gave her the opportunity to win. If Katz had just traded one of his many creatures for her own instead of using the weapon card he would have won. Still, despite being proud she won Trixie did not want to make him feel bad about it, “You shouldn’t have hit my creature with that weapon I think. Good game though. It must have been beginner’s luck.”

“Oh come on Katz, you lost to a newb!” Letz laughed at the sight of his brother’s utter humiliation.

Katz tried to save face to little avail, “Hey, I was going easy on her, okay?”

“Loser big-brother!” Kikka chimed in.

“Hey, I beat you every time we play, so what does that make you?”

Kikka and Katz stuck their tongues out at eachother, after which the boy shook his head and decided to avenge his loss.

“Let’s start up another game. Best two out of three!”

Trixie had forgotten about her companion while she was playing, so she turned back to him to offer him a chance at the game, “Kael, are you going to play?”

He smirked, enjoying the act of spectating more than he thought he would playing, “It is more amusing to watch.”

His eyes flickered over the one representing Trixie’s character, the mage…it looked very familiar. Like, Kael felt a pang he couldn’t describe as he continued to look at the woman pictured.

“Though, that card…”

Kikka noticed his gaze and took it off the table to bring to him.

“That’s Jaina! She’s like the strongest mage there is!”

Trixie had been unknowingly studying the woman pictured the whole time, and now that she heard the name she couldn’t help but think about what it meant. That was Jaina? She had silver and blonde hair, as compared to Trixie’s silver and light blue, and her eyes even glowed like an Elf’s despite being a Human.

While not the same, Trixie could see herself being mistaken for the other woman if one wasn’t looking too closely.

“Now that I think about it, she looks quite similar to me…”

Kael once upon a time loved Jaina, even if he didn’t remember it now. Trixie knew that though, and now that she could see the woman…perhaps the reason Kael was so willing to do what she said was because she resembled the woman he loved? That idea unsettled Trixie, who didn’t want to think his friendly affection was secondhand.

She hadn’t noticed Katz start their game, but there wasn’t anything she could do the first turn so she passed it to him, “Ahem. All done. Your turn.”

As Katz began to think about what to do on his turn, Trixie tried to ignore the now quiet Kael and the cause of his discomfort that Kikka since returned to the table, “What classes do you two play as?”

Kikka smiled brightly at Trixie, “I’m a Priest! We heal stuff and have really big minions.”

Letz was less sure about how to explain his class, “I play Warrior. We…uh…hit things.”

Kikka laughed as she thought about the only other player they knew, “Big sister Hope plays Rogue! They’re really tricky to play, but really good right now!”

Katz sighed as he remembered all the times he lost to her. As in every time they ever played, “She always beats us, even when we work together…”

To win so often meant that the teenaged girl must be good at the game. Or that she was simply better at making decisions in it than the younger children. Likely both, “Oh, she must be quite skilled then. What is her favorite card?”

Perhaps learning the girl’s favorite card would give Trixie some insight on what was good to play in the game.

“Deadly poison!” Kikka offered as an answer only for Letz to speak up.

“No, it’s her Defias Ringleader. She’s got a sick turn one combo for it!”

Katz spoke up next to offer his own answer, “Nuh-uh, it’s that rare, golden, enchanted legendary creature, VanCleef! Remember how hard she worked to get that card?”

Wasn’t VanCleef the now deceased leader of the Defias Brotherhood? The last two suggestions made Trixie laugh, as it showed a bit of irony and humor on the part of the teenaged girl.

“Hah, what an ironic girl, winning a game with representations of the local menace.”

Katz didn’t listen as he announced one of his creatures was now attacking.

“Billy, attack!”

Trixie read the card he was attacking with, a monster with a single point of health named Murloc Raider…it looked like a green humanoid frog-thing holding a sword. And he had named it Billy apparently.

Trixie took the small amount of damage “Billy” could do, but she wasn’t worried. While Hunters could do two free damage to the enemy’s life, a mage could do a single damage to anything of their choice.

As such she targeted the Murloc with her ability, a sad smile upon her face as she destroyed the creature, “Sorry, Billy.”

“Billy…” Katz whined softly as his weak creature was felled instantly.

The rest of the game went the same way as the first with the more experienced Katz gaining the upper hand, only for his inability to think two steps ahead to cause him to lose again. Trixie had to admit he seemed smart, at least in competition with the similarly young siblings she had to compare him to, but he was by no means wise.

After winning the second game Trixie decided to shut things down before Katz asked to do three out of five. Trixie needed to go to bed so they could get up early, while the children out to not stay up too late playing around.

“I think that’s enough for one night. Kael and I have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, so how about you three go on and get ready for bed?”

“Okay…” the three children complained, though they all relented. They took their cards and things and began to leave before Katz turned around and handed a card out to Trixie.

“Oh, Katz, what’s this?”

“I have a spare card that I don’t need. You can keep it.”

Trixie looked down at the card, the Murloc Raider from before, and smiled at him for his kindness, “Thank you, Katz.”

“I named it Billy the totem slayer. I figured you could probably make better use of him.”

Katz moved to leave after handing off the card, but he was soon replaced by Kikka standing in front of Trixie while nervously looking down at the ground.

“Aunty Trixie, is it true you’re leaving tomorrow?”

Trixie bent down to be at the young girl’s level. The kids didn’t seem that bad, and they all seemed nice, so Trixie didn’t want them feeling bad about her leaving, “Yes, I am. I have some very important things I need to do, but I’ll come visit when I can, okay?”

“Promise?” Kikka hopefully asked.

“Promise,” Trixie replied with a nod.

Once the kids were gone Trixie closed the door and locked it, letting out a sigh of relief as she did so. It was about time to relax and she didn’t feel like she could do much more in a single day. After all, she had woken up only to then go fight, after which point she was knocked out from an explosion. Her body ached.

After Trixie turned out the lights and got into bed Kael finally spoke, having overcome the strange feeling in his gut, “See? Kids aren’t so bad.”

Trixie had to begrudgingly agree. These ones weren’t bad, but she had a feeling her aversion to children came from experiences with bad ones, “Eh, you’re right, but I think I’m going to start drafting names. Katz and Letz just sound like their parents were lazy and making up words.”

“And Trixie is so much better?”

“Infinitely. I am the Great and Powerful Trixie after all.”

Some time passed by as the two tried to fall asleep, but their aching bodies kept them up a bit longer than they each would have liked. With time though came the final event of their day, for their heard faint footsteps outside the room coming up the stairs. The lightness of them reminded Kael of the stealthiness of the eldest daughter of the house with how she could so swiftly slip by people. Perhaps it was fitting she played a Rogue in that game, which he imagined was some kind of stealthy class.

The footsteps were not all that caught the attention of the two attentive Elves with their large ears. What was more attention grabbing and more disturbing was the soft sobs following it. It wasn’t a sustained sound of crying, but rather like Hope was trying to not cry and was simply unable to keep herself from doing so.

“Hope? What’s the matter, dear?” they could hear Salma ask, though the closing of a door kept Kael or Trixie from hearing the response if there even was one.

“Why’s she crying?” Trixie whispered, now concerned about whatever could have happened to the girl. She hadn’t met her yet, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t able to worry for her.

Kael felt a different feeling seize his gut than the one that had stricken him before, now feeling unease as ideas flooded into his mind, “Something may have happened after I left…”

“How old is she again?” Trixie yawned, her body’s exhaustion finally catching up with her.

“Mid-teens I believe…” Kael was beginning to drift off as well. They could see how Hope was doing the day after. He wouldn’t want to intrude on it though, since it could be private.

“I haven’t even seen her yet. I hope nobody hurt her…hurting kids is bad…”

Trixie drifted off after that and was soon joined by Kael.

It was a quiet night after that point, though perhaps it would have been better if it wasn’t.

Author's Note

Next chapter we're really going to kick off the Westfall arc for real, since it's about time we meet our local brotherhood of miscreants and thieves!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! Comments are :heart:

Levels 13-14: V with a Vendetta

A/N: Special thanks to SilentMech, refferee, GamerGoddessNayru, squall_wave, nioniosbbbb, the alicorn huntard, and Ketvirtas for your comments last chapter! They were very nice and supportive, and they helped me put this together even as life continues to go on and drain energy away from these more fun endeavors. Your comments do help offset that though, so please continue letting me know what you think!

I hope you all enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

“Morning…”

Trixie only had woken up as the light of the day beat down on her face from the window nearby. Kael had opened it up to illuminate their room in the hopes that she would wake up without him having to actually rouse her. He knew she would whine if he did it in a direct manner, so his chances were better with this method.

He turned around to face the bed and smile at her as Trixie moved to rub her sore eyes, “Goodmorning, drowsy horse.”

“Hey—” Trixie began to whine until she noticed that she was still in her Elven body, “I’m not even in that form!”

“It’s more entertaining to have a little fun with it than truly delve into the philosophical questions and boundaries that stem from the reality of your situation.”

She rolled her eyes at him, unamused by his response, “Is that fancy talk for ‘I am making fun of you because I do not know how to deal with you not really being an Elf’?”

Kael shrugged as he turned back to the window as Trixie rose from bed, realizing that she was going to be mostly naked and would be getting dressed, “More or less.”

Trixie started putting on the clothes made for her by Kael and Salma when her mind turned to the elder woman: why hadn’t there been a wakeup call this time? Before their hosts woke them up in the morning, but the shade of the light outside seemed to indicate that it was far past morning.

“It looks like its midday. How late did they let us sleep today?”

Trixie tapped Kael on the shoulder to indicate he could look, and when he did so he gave another shrug to further reveal his current lackadaisical and placated attitude, “It seems no-one is in a rush to get up today. I’m personally fine with that, but I’m not going to waste it all laying in bed.”

Trixie nodded to that, since they agreed to leave as soon as their obligations were done with. The sleeping Mana Wyrm over on their bed was all the indication that they needed that their past was catching up to them here.

Seeing as it would be rude to leave without saying goodbye to the seemingly absent Saldeans, Trixie felt fine leaving Nana to sleep. The poor animal had ate nearly endlessly the night before after Trixie spared her own rations for it, Kael doing so as well to not appear selfish even if it made him starve the night. Whatever Nana went through before them though had exhausted it, and the Wyrm slept deeply that night and was still completely knocked out as she breathed softly on the sheets.

Trixie had brought over something from Kael’s own bag of clothing to go on top of his full set of red cloth-leather gear, “Put on your bandana.”

Kael took the cloth gifted to him by the Innkeeper by Silvermoon City from Trixie’s hand, the sight of him reminding him of the conversation he had with Hope about how it’d make him look like one of the Defias Brotherhood. He acquiesced to Trixie’s wishes and pulled it around his head, his hands running back against his long blonde hair as he tied it behind his face.

With it covering half his face like it had when they visited Silvermoon, Trixie giggled at how silly he looked, “Even with that thing on you wouldn’t get away as a bandit. Your eyes are glowing and your eyebrows are the size of a small animal.”

Kael brought an index finger out to poke Trixie’s eyebrow, “Yours are not any better,” he grinned beneath the mask, knowing that she couldn’t see it but he did hope it came out in his tone, “And I believe there might be a few neigh-sayers in the Defias Brotherhood about a horse joining their ranks.”

Trixie ignored his pun and turned her back to him, her hands moving to her hips as she stood with her nose upturned, “As if I would join them. I am a leader, not a follower.”

“As I am learning more and more every day,” Kael joked, though it made Trixie go on the defensive nonetheless.

“Partners are equal, so I don’t mind sharing dominance with you. It doesn’t actually put you any above me, you’re still just on the same level.”

“And when I’m the crowned Prince of the Blood Elves?”

That got Trixie to turn around, a broad grin plastered on her soft face, “Then I am going to be the equal of the Prince, should our partnership last that long.”

A sudden bout of nervousness gripped Kael’s stomach. He wanted this partnership to be of a permanent variety, and yet there was the very real possibility it wouldn’t end up that way. She sought fame, he sought a crown. She would need to be audacious and draw crowds, he would need to sneak by and accomplish his goals in clandestine manners on occasion. Could they find a balance that would suit them both?

“I…would hope it does,” was the stalled and very late response from Kael.

“As would I,” Trixie stiffly agreed, feeling some nervousness of her own now that she thought about what she said.

To step off of the uncomfortable subject, Kael took out the note given to him by their host the previous night and began to read from it the list of tasks held on the paper, “Speak to Gryan Stoutmantle, check out Moonbrook, investigate propaganda, learn about the past, find missing Stormwind Captain...”

Trixie whistled at the long list, “Sounds like we have a busy day ahead of us. You hear anything from the Saldeans?”

“No, haven’t heard a rumble in the house since I woke up. I think we’re alone for now.”

Trixie strolled over to the hallway, at which point a purple flash preceded her vanishing from all sight, but a crash downstairs met Kael’s ears.

Before Kael could question it, Trixie stumbled back up the staircase and nearly collapsed in front of the door. She was smiling despite the exhausted look of her body, what with it tilted over and about to collapse underneath itself, but she was indeed happy.

“You would…happen to be right,” Trixie wheezed out as she took in a few deep breaths to revitalize herself.

Kael already knew the answer, but he felt obligated to acknowledge what she just did, “Did you just teleport?”

“Why yes, I did. A new trick for me to use and abuse as I see fit!”

Teleportation was quite the ability, and Kael was quite fine with Trixie being willing to utilize its often unspoken potential, “Fighting would be quite trivial if one could just teleport around every few moments.”

“Yes…it would…”

Kael narrowed his eyes as Trixie suddenly stopped herself from hurling onto the floor, making him realize that perhaps this newest spell of Trixie’s was not something they ought to jump right into. Some caution could be useful for such a powerful ability.

“Doing it made you feel sick,” Kael noted as he approached her and offered her a hand to get up.

Trixie swatted his hand away and tried to raise herself up to her full height, her voice complaining in indignation caused by her condition, “No!”

In trying to get up Trixie instead fell backwards onto her backend, and after a small bounce that left her sprawled on the ground she lost the haughty air she had been pretending to have.

“…yes.”

Kael shook his head and sighed at her stubbornness. Would she ever feel comfortable not being in power all of the time? It was a facet of life after all, and it didn’t hurt to have help from others when they were willing to give it.

With Kael’s aid Trixie stood back up and the two prepared themselves to go. The day might have been half over, but they were nowhere near done “Bye Nana. We’ll be back later. You get your rest, okay?”

The Mana Wyrm was not in much of a state to respond, though it was likely it would say something along the lines of “Naaa” if it could.

The Saldeans may be gone to some unknown place, but that wouldn’t stop Trixie from doing the tasks set forth by them as final payment for their kindness. Then it would be time to hit the road and leave Westfall behind.

At least, that was the plan.

The man Gryan Stoutmantle was relatively easy to find at Sentinel Hill because the basic information scribbled down by Saldean was enough: a man in his about 50’s who is wearing silver armor with blue trim, a Stormwind tabard with a lion’s head on it as the symbol of the city, and a large golden shoulderplate that looked like an eagle. Not many of those were walking around Sentinel Hill, so after the short journey to the military outpost Trixie approached him with her partner in-tow.

“Hello, my name is Trixie Lulamoon. My partner and I are here on behalf of a family who lives nearby, the Saldeans. The farmer asked us to help you out should you require any aid.”

The military man paused to think as he looked over the two travelers, “Hmmm, let me think…” his eyes lit up as he came up with a task for them, “Oh, I know how you can aid us. We have had a camp near Moonbrook for quite some time now. One of my best soldiers works the area along with a company of Sentinel Hill troopers. Report to Captain Alpert now and find out if he has any news about the happenings in Moonbrook.”

“Go to person A, go to person B…what are we, couriers?” Trixie complained under her breath, quickly receiving an elbow to her side for her not-productive words from Kael.

The Stormwind Marshal rose an eyebrow at Trixie as she sent a look at Kael, “What was that?”

Trixie grabbed Kael and began to drag him away, “Oh, nothing, nothing. We’ll be on our way to Captain Albert. Thank you!”

Kael sighed at being dragged around but in the end did not fight her because he had no desire to remain there any longer than necessary. More time lingering was more time to be located and hunted down after all, and they had received their new orders…which went right along with what Saldean wrote down. As if he had anticipated where their paths would take them. Pretty insightful for a common farmer one might note, but it was ultimately meaningless in the current situation.

Once they were a good ways away from Sentinel Hill Kael pulled out the map he had been carrying around and began to look for Moonbrook. After a quick check he found that Trixie had brought them the wrong direction, of course.

“I believe it is south-west from here, my smart mouthed friend, not east. I don’t blame you for not knowing though, since it’s not like you failed to say go west to something named Westeros.”

Trixie ignored his overall comment because of the heat beaming down on her. The added heat felt like more than she could handle and she would chalk it up to the teleportation from earlier, though her dark colored clothing did little to help her comfortableness, “Ugh, if it wasn’t broad daylight I could make this so much faster on four legs.”

Kael didn’t even look up from the map as he commented, “Are you saying you want me to ride you, but you’re afraid of doing it in public?”

Trixie’s mumbling as they changed directions gave Kael time to realize what he just said, slap his forehead, and sigh. Trixie was rubbing off on him, and not in a good way.

“Why are you hitting your forehead?”

“Nothing.”

Moonbrook looked terrible. If the military weakness of Sentinel Hill was bad for such a series of structures, Moonbrook’s overall appearance matched the level of security Sentinel Hill had. Westfall truly was facing economic troubles with its poor, as Moonbrook appeared about ready to fall apart with shoddy buildings and homeless people walking the streets.

Oh, and leather wearing brigands.

“This is our town, scrub!”

A man in a dark colored hood and clothing approached Trixie and Kael as they tried to enter the town, but before the man’s raspy voice could say anything else another chimed in as a man with similar clothing and a red bandana joined him.

“Yeah, beat it!” the second man said is a more nasal tone. He drew a dagger from his pocket while the other man, seemingly the ringleader given his more in-charge presence, drew a wooden club and levied it at them.

Moonbrook was a bad neighborhood.

Trixie gestured to her partner and then to herself in an attempt to calm things down, “I am sure my friend would love to beat it, but we have business here…”

If it had been left at that perhaps an arrangement could have been made, but Trixie’s mouth had to keep running.

“So I’m sorry, dreg, but we will be passing.”

The Ringleader took a step forward and prepared to swing his weapon, “What did you call me, girl?”

Kael shoving Trixie back made the club wielding man stop his swing, a moment of opportunity Kael used to speak up as well. He danged a bag of coins out with one hand as he smiled at the man…

“Now, now, there’s no need to fight—”

He cut himself off by using the other hand to grab the sword sheathed over his back to swing down at the man’s arm and bludgeon it with the mostly dull weapon. The thug cried out in pain as he was slammed with the weapon’s might to the surprise of him, his partner, and Trixie.

Not practiced in the blade, Kael had trouble wielding it and had to fight to raise it back up for another strike. By now the man he hit was recovering and the other was rushing forward to attack Kael.

“Trixie, now is the time to do something, I’ve lost the element of surprise!”

Trixie snapped out of her momentary confusion to fling a shard of ice at the second thug, catching him in the shoulder and driving him back as the first swung a fist at Kael’s face. He had dropped his club after his arm became stricken with pain from the hit it took, leaving him with only his wounded arm and his other to strike with.

Kael parried the punch with his blade, causing the thug to hurt his other hand in the process. This didn’t stop the man from still trying to throttle Kael, but a knee to the thug’s gut caught him off guard. The accompanying smashing of a fist and a sword’s hilt knocked the man over onto his side, effectively ending his threat.

As Kael utilized a powerful kick to knock out his downed and disorientated opponent he looked up to see that Trixie had made her opponent slip and knock himself out using her ice. Simple, but effective, and that was what mattered.

The two noticed that nearby them was a small settlement on the side of the town which seemed to be the Stormwind representation for the community. A few tents was all it really amounted to beyond the soldiers posted there, and they all seemed quite busy discussing something…which would explain why none of them noticed the very brief fighting encounter Trixie and Kael just went through.

Of course, neither of the two Elves knew that such bandits and thieves were so common that the Stormwind soldiers were afraid to oppose one of them lest the entirety of them decide that they no longer desire Stormwind busybodies poking through their affairs.

Trixie waited for the conversation between the soldiers to continue until the point she heard the mention of the name Alpert, at which point she interrupted them all by approaching and clearing her throat, “Hello Captain, Marshal Brian Stantlermittens sent us here to help you in whatever capacity you need.”

The captain was wearing an outfit and tabard similar to the Marshal’s, albeit less lustrous and with better taste given its more standard appearance. He was previously enraptured by what he was discussing with his fellow soldiers until Trixie’s voice caught his attention along with the word “Marshal”. This was enough to get him to turn and face Trixie, recognize help when he’s seen it, and begin speaking to Trixie and Kael with some sudden familiarity.

“The natives are restless, travelers. I don't know what's going on, but homeless activity in this area has quadrupled in the past two days. If I didn't know any better I'd say they were planning something...”

While glad he was at least accepting of their aid, Trixie was a bit put off by his blanket statement concerning the homeless. Sure, she didn’t feel comfortable around them especially after the very recent run-in with two dregs, but it felt a little prejudiced to just go out and suspect them of some conspiracy.

Not noticing her unease, Alpert continued to speak as his fellow soldiers left to go do other non-productive things, “We've noticed a rise in violent acts amongst the homeless of the area. Something or someone is getting them all riled up. Now whoever is behind all this is getting more organized. Just recently a group of thugs came through here handing out pamphlets.”

Trixie looked to Kael and they both in turn looked over to the town: many more people like the thugs they just took care of stood about as if they were guarding the town from anyone they deemed a threat. What could get bandits so defensive if they weren’t being actively invaded? The soldiers seemingly were not new to the scene given the weathered look of their tents, so they wouldn’t be the cause…

Without waiting for input from either Trixie or Kael the Captain from Stormwind pointed them towards Moonbrook and ordered them, “Enter Moonbrook and look for evidence. Propaganda, leaflets, whatever...bring whatever you find back to me. Maybe we can find the source through the writings.”

Just wanting it to be done with, Trixie and her partner just accepted the command and began to approach the town. They’d grab anything suspicious and just bring it back. That’d about settle them with this guy, and then they could go back to the farm and say goodbye to the Saldeans who were likely back from wherever they had gone.

The homeless citizens of the town didn’t seem to really care about Trixie or Kael and they ignored them as the two began to look around the small town. With a nod Trixie gestured to a random building that they could inspect, and with a nod back the two found themselves inside of it.

Of course, they didn’t expect three armed thugs to be inside the entrance seemingly waiting for them.

“Where do you think you're goin'?” one of the men growled at the duo, his question punctuated by the advancing of the other two men towards the Elves.

Trixie took a step back as she tried to find a way around resorting to bloodshed, “Ummmm…” she bit her lip as she realized she had nothing to convince them that she was there for anything other than being nosy, “Okay, I have no excuse. Kind of run out of those after all the lying I’ve been doing.”

Kael would have faltered if not for the two slowly approaching thugs from across the inside of what appeared to be a run down chapel of sorts.

“This is the end of the line, pal!” one yelled as he drew a blade and lunged at Kael, who had moved to put himself in the way of Trixie.

As he made this movement Trixie prepared the spell she had used that morning and readied herself to be in a position to attack when it activated, “Blink and you’ll miss me!”

She disappeared in a flash as Kael sidestepped the thug’s wild lunge, only to then swing his sword down at the stumbling man’s leg as he swept past him. This took the man’s leg out from underneath him and he fell without any grace onto the ground.

By then Trixie had reappeared behind where the three men had started. Once again corporeal, she fired off a large chunk of ice at the next man attacking Kael, the blast knocking the man off balance and allowing Kael to swing his sword up to connect with the side of the man’s cheek. A sickening snap could be heard across the building as the dull blade smashed the man forcefully, though Trixie’s words at the time were an odd counterpoint to the attack because of how she followed up her previous statement.

“Haha, it’s funny because the name of the spell is ‘blink’ or something like that.”

The final man was caught in-between them and did not move, his weary eyes looking between the two opponents he was faced with as he developed some kind of plan.

Kael did not want to unleash his fire attacks because they could set the building aflame, and that would not only hinder their investigation but also draw the attention of everyone in the nearby area to this location. As such he patiently approached the final man to lessen the gap between them, “Trixie, it’s severely less funny if you explain the joke.”

The final foe used the momentary diversion of attention to hurl his dagger at Kael, nicking him in the shoulder and causing Trixie to become distracted by the sight of her partner growling in pain. This in turn left her vulnerable to the enemy spinning around and throwing a follow up knife at her. Disorientated by her teleportation she was not able to purposefully dodge it…

But because she was barely standing at all she lurched to the side when she tried to move that direction, the knife slicing through some of the cloth of her outfit but doing no actual damage to her.

“Behind you!”

As Trixie’s yell Kael ducked down as he spun around and swung his sword one armed. He did so without any kind of aim, and in doing so he clobbered the first thug in the neck and face as the sword wildly lashed out. The man slumped over as he lost consciousness.

Seeing that the third thug was about to use this opportunity to grab the knife in Kael’s shoulder and stab him with it, Trixie yelled out as she called forth the energy to use a spell, “Oh no you don’t, Gikor!”

From her position on the ground Trixie took the man’s legs and then also froze them in place as her lob of ice exploded around his lower body.

With the man downed, Kael hovered his sword over the thug’s neck, clearly contemplating swinging it down and ending the life of his adversary. Trixie could see the pragmatic side of her partner rearing up, and her own moral sensibilities rose up as well in response.

“Kael…”

With a sigh, the future lord of the Blood Elves ripped the blade from his wounded shoulder and tossed it aside. He once again utilized a strong kick to render the fallen foe unconscious, not wanting to risk him making a racket. He had partially wanted to end the man’s life because of how he had nearly killed Trixie if not for her trip, but that revenge was not to be had because of the same woman.

“I will stay my hand for you any day, but I will not restrain myself if doing so endangers you.”

No longer in any immediate danger, Trixie decided to play around a bit as she got up, “Oh, and if something were to harm me?” she laughed as she gestured to the three goons they had managed to defeat with relative ease despite the number disadvantage, “What if one of these idiots managed to do that?”

Kael sheathed his sword as he turned back to the open entrance to see if anyone had been drawn to the commotion. Such was the town that swords clashing and pained grunts drew no attention from the inhabitants.

“I would take the appropriate measures to exact vengeance on their entire organization. Once those who did the deed were punished, the others would be brought to heel and suffer for allowing their members to commit such an action.”

The measured and levelness of Kael’s tone put Trixie off-guard. The fact that he cared about her enough to exact vengeance upon those who would bring harm to her was nice, but the matter-of-fact manner of it with how thought out it sounded made it kind of scary at the same time, “I’m not sure if I should be relieved or worried.”

He turned around to give her a cheeky grin, “Both is a fine response. Just know that I would not permit any harm upon you, as well as that I am glad you are not injured.”

“Chivalry at its finest,” Trixie scoffed while shooting him a smug grin back. After a moment though it faded into a face of minor concern and worry, just a hint at what she must have been feeling inside, “Just don’t do anything one might consider reckless on my behalf.”

The chapel fell silent for a minute as the two began searching through the room for anything like what the Captain was looking for, though once something was located Trixie took the first opportunity to wave it around.

“This looks like an informational pamphlet!”

After locating it she began to read it aloud with Kael coming to join her.

“Give a man a tabard and he will pledge his undying loyalty to your cause. These men are now government sheep who care not for your hardships. They wear the tabard of their leader and care only for what he desires. –V”

The signed bit at the end made Kael raise his long eyebrows that hung off the sides of his head, “V? Maybe VanCleef?”

Trixie shook her head as she stuffed the pamphlet in a pocket, “He’s dead, and this doesn’t look like it’s that old.”

“Let’s see if we can find anything else,” Kael paused as he considered their overall situation and how the afternoon light was beginning to set in. They ought to leave town before it got dark, “You think you can handle looking around town by yourself? The faster we can find anything of note, the sooner we can leave this damned place.”

“Of course I can.”

Kael knew better than to trust her arrogant nature, but they would be in severe trouble if whoever was tracking them were to catch up, so haste was required and by splitting up they could cover more ground, “If anything happens, run to the Stormwind camp and we’ll meet up there.”

Trixie nodded and moved to leave when she noticed Kael bending down and ruffling through the pockets of the unconscious miscreants.

“What are you doing?”

Kael removed a red cloth from one of the pockets he searched and smirked at the discovery, “There it is,” he held the bandana out towards Trixie to show it to her all the while removing the money in the man’s pocket and placing it in his own, “Thought they might have these on them. Evidence that the Defias is up to no good.”

“Well, have fun taking off the clothes of those guys, I’m going to leave you four alone.”

Kael groaned as he realized he was the one at the butt of the joke this time, but he let it go because of all the times he managed to get away with messing with her. Still, despite his plan to optimize the time of this operation he was still worried for her, so he called out to Trixie as she left.

“Don’t get yourself killed!

After splitting up to find clues, the duo each encountered resistance from the various leather clothed thugs in town.

“This is for VanCleef, you Elven bastards!”

“If you ain't with us, you're against us! DIE!”

“Little early to the party, aren't ya?”

None of it lasted very long, as giant ice shards and fireballs trump rusty daggers.

Once they found some more things of note they met up at the outskirts of the town, each of them only having a little evidence but neither really caring. If the Stormwind warriors wanted anything more they could just do their own jobs. It would literally only take walking into the town and putting the shiny armor to use, so neither of the Elves had much sympathy for the lack of initiative and courage demonstrated.

“I found a secret journal with tons of Defias information!” Trixie chirped as she held out a book towards Kael. He, however, was nonplussed by her discovery.

“Did you just steal someone’s diary?”

“What?” she stated defensively, “I’m investigating, and the people in the town want to kill us. I think they can do without their diary.”

Kael took the diary from her and opened it up to read from it to corroborate Trixie’s claim.

“Now, let’s see…” he moved to a random page and began to read from it, “I have full faith in the boss, but I do question the appointment of a fish as captain…”

Trixie moved it to another page that she had earmarked, “This is the page I found interesting, read it.”

Kael muttered something about it being the only page she probably read before he went about actually reading it as she suggested, “I can hardly believe it. We've endured this torment for too long. The Brotherhood will be reborn and we will then wash across this land as a flood to cleanse it of its filth and corruption.”

As he finished the page’s text he felt his head sinking. Trixie opened her mouth to question his disparaged look when he spoke up and interrupted her would be question.

“The Brotherhood is up to something, and it seems they are planning to gather later to swell their ranks and enact whatever it is they are doing.”

“Oh, and how do you know that?” Trixie sarcastically replied, her eyes rolling at the obvious statement given.

Kael ignored her sarcasm as he pulled out some evidence of his own, “You’re not the only one who found something. I located this noteworthy propaganda.”

To mirror what he did Trixie grabbed the paper from his hands and began to read from it before he could snatch it back.

“The hour of our redemption draws ever closer, brothers and sisters! Tonight we will shed the shell of our former lives and be reborn as heroes. —V” Trixie gave it back to him when she was done with the slip of paper, her mind wrapping around the fact that it confirmed something big was about to happen, “V again. V’s got a Vendetta. V for Vendetta. I like the sound of that. It should be an action movie with political intrigue, and the main character—”

Kael held up a hand to stop her inane babble, “I think that’s enough for now. I can see that people are gathering around the town square, so let’s turn in what we’ve found and then see what’s drawing the commotion.”

“One day it will be I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, who captures their attention.”

“For now a low profile is best.”

“You should be supportive of Trixie’s dreams.”

Kael sighed as they walked over to the guards, “Not now, Trixie.”

“I’m hungry,” Trixie complained as her stomach rumbled, bringing to mind a similar issue for Kael, who had been ignoring his own starving stomach since they arrived. In a town of poor, destitute people he wasn’t sure if he could get food and he was worried that if he did the thieves and thugs would come after him.

“We never did eat breakfast…” Kael wanted to tell her to quit whining, but he was feeling famished as well, “Later, okay? I’m sure Salma can make something for us, especially since it’ll have been a full day since we’ve had something to really eat.”

It wasn’t the first time Trixie had gone hungry, but it’d be the last if she could help it, “Fiiiiine. This guy better pay us for doing his job for him. Seriously, does nobody actually do their job in this world? Everybody wants everyone else to do it for them!”

“Reuenthal may have enlisted our help, but he participated.”

“That wasn’t his job. That was the opposite of his job.”

“Point taken.”

“Ahem.”

Trixie and Kael looked up to see that they had arrived at the Stormwind camp and the Captain was waiting for them to notice his presence before speaking. Now having it, Alpert spoke up.

“Any luck?”

The two handed in the materials they had gathered and the Captain began to look over them with great interest. After mewling over them all he looked up to the other two and gave them a confused look.

“V? The only V I know is VanCleef, but he died many years ago.”

“That’s what I said,” Trixie scoffed as she had a random solution come to mind, “Are ghosts a thing?”

Alpert grimly nodded to that but did not explain anything substantively, “Yes, but I don’t think he has the power to come back from the dead. He’s dead and gone, thank the Light.”

Kael reached into his bag and retrieved a set of bandanas he had retrieved from his defeated foes, “I also found these.”

“Red bandanas?!” Alpert gaped, as if it was something unexpected when it was fully expected, “I haven't seen a red bandana in years. Could this V figure be attempting to reform the Defias Brotherhood?”

Kael rolled his eyes along with Trixie in a shared moment of exasperation before pulling out a final bandana, the one he received back on Elven land, “What about this one?”

“That one looks a little more unique…” Alpert nodded as he looked at the cloth more, “Yes, it has a much better make than the others. No true notability other than it must have been made specifically for someone. Where did you find it?”

“I was given it north of here by an Elven innkeeper. She says a traveler left it there sometime.”

“Interesting. I would hold onto it if I were you. It might prove useful to figuring out this mystery.”

The sound of a rallying crowd nearby drew the attention of everyone present, and in the center of Moonbrook it appeared as if every single one of the homeless population was gathered around. Perhaps this was what the propaganda and materials were leading towards?

The Captain gestured towards the gathering crowd, “It looks like the meeting the shadowy figure spoke of is starting soon. The homeless are starting to mobilize. I need you to attend the rally and gather information, my friends. Go to the center of Moonbrook and listen in on the rally. Return to me with whatever you find out.”

Once again resigned to their fate of “go here, do that”, Trixie and Kael wordlessly left the man behind to go and listen in as he requested. They would stick out like sore thumbs, but if they stood at the back of the crowd they doubted anyone would pay them any mind.

“The rally is about to begin,” Trixie whispered to Kael as they slipped into the back of the gathered crowd. Despite having a height advantage on the Humans they were still having their view blocked by others in the crowd, and so as a masked voice spoke up over the rumble of the crowd neither Trixie nor Kael could observe the one speaking.

“Gather, brothers and sisters! Come, all, and listen!” the voice, likely the so called V, yelled, “Brothers. Sisters. We are ABANDONED - the orphaned children of Stormwind.”

Kael nodded at the statement of fact, which resulted in Trixie elbowing him in the side: partially as payback for earlier, and partially to stifle his sympathies for the rabble-rouser.

The one speaking could be made out as a woman speaker, though Kael found himself irritate by how the moving up and down of the riled crowd was keeping him from getting a clear view despite him being the tallest one present.

“Our "king" sits atop his throne made of gold and shrugs at our plight! Meanwhile, our children die of starvation on these very streets! HIS war, not ours, cost us our livelihood. WE paid for the Alliance's victories with our blood and the blood of our loved ones!”

At this point even Trixie was biting her lip nervously. Could she hate someone riling a crowd up for conflict if they had legitimate reasons to be angry and to rise up? It did not excuse the ills of the Defias Brotherhood, but Stormwind wasn’t clean either.

“The time has come, brothers and sisters, to stop this injustice! The government of Stormwind, of the ALLIANCE, must be made accountable for what it has done to us! Today, we are reborn! Today, we take a stand as men and women, not nameless, faceless numbers!”

The figure hoists into the air a rifle by the stock with a tattered pennant tied to the end, and the crowd applauds and cheers at the action. They are all quite supportive of the message given, and they all seem ready to storm Stormwind right then and there.

All except for the two worried Elves, who instead hastily turned to flee and return to Alpert. He would need to know of this, and he would need to know as soon as possible if whatever the Brotherhood was to be stopped.

Conflict was coming, and it was bound to be a bloodbath if the Brotherhood could recruit so many willing people into its ranks.

Author's Note

Who is this mysterious V? :trollestia: Those who know, you don't need to say, since it's going to be a thing next chapter anyways.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! Comments are :heart:

Level 15: Rise of the Brotherhood

A/N: Special thanks to SilentMech, GamerGoddessNayru, refferee, Quixotic Enigma, and nioniosbbbb for your comments last chapter! They were very nice and supportive, and they helped me put this together even as life continues to go on and drain energy away from these more fun endeavors. Your comments do help offset that though, so please continue letting me know what you think!

I hope you all enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

“There is a shaman here, Thoralius, who might be able to aid us. He is a friend of Gryan's who has recently come to Westfall to study the elemental devastation that has befallen us. Speak to Thoralius, and see if there is something that he can do to shed some light on the identity of this shadowy figure.”

Being given a new objective steeled the previously panicked duo of Elves, and they looked around the Stormwind camp for where Captain Alpert was pointing.

It so happened that the person he was pointing to was a tall, broad shouldered man with gaudily crafted golden armor, white glowing eyes, hooves for feet, and…tentacles coming off of his light blue face.

Not long tentacles, but small tendril-like things that instantly freaked Trixie out while her more composed partner just flashed a confused look back at Alpert.

“You mean the blue, squid person in golden armor ten feet away?”

Alpert nodded as he gestured again to the unassuming squid-hoof-person in literally glowing armor, “Yes, that would be the one!”

That settled that matter, so Kael grabbed his partner and began to drag her towards their newest in what would be a long line of quest givers. This snapped her out of her confused studying of the odd creature, though Trixie did whisper on the way.

“What’s a squid?”

“Imagine this man’s head without a body, and a bit skinnier.”

Alpert heard their whispering and he rose his voice to chastise them for their conversation, “Now isn’t the time for jokes, go talk to him now while I try to find a way of dealing with this potential riot!”

This time Kael took charge of their conversation, for Trixie was still awestruck and would likely prove less efficient at speeding through the conversation, “Thoralius, we are told you can aid us. I assume you’ve overheard our conversation with your comrade?”

The squid-person nodded to them, though he did not seem to understand that he was receiving odd looks, “Hmm, yes, perhaps I could be of some assistance. When I was in Northrend I helped the people of Valgarde uncover some of the mysteries of the vrykul by delving into the spirit world. Perhaps the same could be done here.”

Nor did he seem to understand that none of that meant just about anything to the travelers speaking to him. He didn’t seem to notice or care even as Trixie outright questioned it.

“…what?”

Thoralius just continued speaking as if he didn’t hear her, a hand reaching into one of his pockets to reveal a scented object.

“This incense will put your body and mind in a deep meditative state. Once the trance begins you will be pulled into the spirit world. Do not fight the trance once it has begun. Allow the spirits to show you what they know.”

A look to the main part of the town revealed ever increasing volume of voices, stamping of feet, and other signs that things were beginning to spiral out of control.

“You must leave now. Go to the Deadmines, a place which I am told holds great significance in the history of Westfall because it was the Defias Brotherhood’s headquarters once upon a time. Once inside, use the incense. You may enter the Deadmines through the old farmhouse south of here. Follow the homeless. Return to Gryan Stoutmantle with your discovery.”

Trixie reached forward to grab the incense…only to take it and then shove it into Kael’s hands, her back turning to him the moment it was in his hands.

“I’m not so keen on taking something I don’t know anything about from a complete stranger. You’re up, Kael.”

He rolled his eyes, though he had to admit she had a point. He would like to have her look after him though while he was under the influence of this substance…but he also feared that they were wasting too much time as it was. These tasks were simple, but they were costing them valuable time they could be using to avoid their Hunter.

“Fine, but you had best do something while I am carrying out this task. Remember, we ought to leave soon, so we need to be efficient.”

Trixie brought a hand to her mouth as she tried to think of what she could possibly do. They still had to find the Stormwind Captain, but she didn’t see how they could possibly do that, so she settled for something else on their list: talking to the Saldeans, even though they were MIA.

“I will stop by Sentinel Hill and see if I can find Hope, since we haven’t seen her parents. I’d like to let them all know about the coming conflict before we turn tail and leave.”

Kael paused and thought briefly before giving her a nod, approving her plan while still being apprehensive, “Be careful. There is a good to likely chance the homeless nearby Sentinel Hill will be in on all this.”

“Oh please, you worry too much. You’re the one going to the Deadmines, which used to be a base for thugs!”

The Elf Prince fought the urge to hug Trixie as she moved to leave and head back to Sentinel Hill, and even after she was far away he held the urge still. Things might get dangerous soon and at a speed none of them could anticipate, and while staying held danger so did rushing things.

Kael set aside his doubts as he went about sneaking back into town. It wasn’t too hard to find the farmhouse given that the small town only had so many buildings, and no-one seemed to pay him much mind going in now that they all were busy discussing their little would-be revolution. The formerly corpselike population was as lively as starved people could be, and it would be heartwarming if not for the fact they were planning on throwing a violent revolution. Kael couldn’t fault them given their station in life, but people would be harmed, and innocents may come to the blade who were not complicit in the suffering of those of Westfall should the Defias return to power.

Inside of the farmhouse were some of the sicklier, elderly, and young from the town’s crowd all huddled across the structure. They were quiet and just murmuring to one another for the most part, though as Kael began to walk through the building he began to hear them say things about him.

“I remember seeing an Elf once…”

“I was once an Elf!”

Not everyone there was likely sane, it seemed, though Kael was proud of his own mind as he managed to find a staircase leading downwards all without rousing any real attention. In fact, this crowd of sullen people seemed to react more to eachother speaking about him than him himself.

“We heard those Stormwind guys are hiring an Elf to do their dirty work. Think it’s him?”

“Nah, it was a woman I heard.”

“Well I hear she’s hiring mercenaries and is going to unleash her fearsome beast on us all!”

“That girl with the poor Saldeans ain’t got no money for mercenaries.”

“They usually give us all food. Where’v they been?”

“I dunno, but I hear there was a prison break a bit ago! There’s that Captain downstairs who’ve they’ve had fer weeks, and I hear he broke his chains. Poor sod didn’t get very far before they beat him back into the dirt.”

“Isn’t that like his third attempt? They aren’t even feeding him much at all!”

After heading down the staircase Kael found a room that led into what appeared to be a cavern. One would think Stormwind would block off this former area of activity for a criminal organization or do anything at all to perhaps make sure nothing was going on here, but given that the homeless who now had Defias sensibilities were gathering by it there appeared to be no mind paid to the area by Stormwind’s forces. Perhaps they were occupied elsewhere far away, enough so that they could not spare anything for the area just outside of their own border?

As Kael passed the last of the homeless taking shelter he took a step into the cave, the darkness of it making him grow doubtful as he thought about what he was doing.

“This is it…”

Taking a glance around, he noticed that the homeless nearby him were all asleep. They wouldn’t pay him any mind, and he was at the location as instructed. Kael brought out the incense and lowered himself to the ground.

“Hopefully this is quick. I don’t seem to be in the main cavern, but I dare not enter any further on my own.”

Using a quick flame, Kael lit the incense and let its scent wash over him. It only took a moment for his vision to blur, and he had a brief moment to thank himself for sitting down before he collapsed completely and became enthralled by the vision he was granted.

The vision was unlike anything Kael had felt, or at least could remember, as it was like seeing through eyes that did not belong to him. The swirled around in the darkness of the cavern for some short time before panning across it and passing by torches lighting the passageways of it at too fast of a speed for Kael to remember them in any detail.

What he did notice though was the multitude of bodies wearing familiar red bandanas, some of which had sword wounds, while others simply seemed to have blood pooling around them despite displaying no obvious wounds.

At the end of the twisting and winding cavern passages came an inner cove, a shoreline with wood standing over it that formed platforms leading to what appeared to be a warship under construction. The size of it was so impressive that it could likely wage a battle all on its own and sink many other ships with its massive cannons, but at the time of the vision it was incomplete.

Kael thought grimly that it would likely remain that way, as this was supposed to be the fall of the Brotherhood, and this was likely their would-be trump card.

The vision’s perspective shifted to home in on the top of the ship, where five men rushed atop it. The one in front was a Warrior with a Stormwind tabard and a wild look in his eyes as he yelled out.

“There's nowhere left to hide, VanCleef! The Defias are THROUGH!”

Nothing happened, though Kael could hear a very hushed voice off to the side. He was not the only one to hear it though, as Warrior soon boomed again.

“We're here to finish this! Face us, coward!”

In a flash a man with blue and bronzed golden leather leapt from the shadows nearby the ship’s middle cabin, a sword in each hand as he moved to engage the Warrior calling his name.

“None may challenge the Brotherhood!”

Kael noticed that the man was wearing a bandana of a similar make to his own, it being a higher quality bandana than the other by far. It covered his mouth as he yelled, though Kael could see a furious expression through his eyes and eyebrows alone. This was a man who was losing everything and would fight to the death to accomplish his goals.

The Warrior parried VanCleef’s first strike, though he ended up with a blade embedded in his side when the second sword struck. The wound disappeared in a flash of light as a member in the back of the party lifted up their hands and cast some magic unfamiliar to Kael.

A loud bang rung through the cavern as a man in full, concealing armor held out a “gun” (as Kael learned they were called) towards VanCleef. The man actually had anticipated the shot and avoided it by spinning around the Warrior and swinging down at the Warrior man’s legs, knocking them from beneath him and causing him to crash to the ground.

That’s when a second bang happened and VanCleef’s assault halted as he stumbled back. A hole appeared in his armor in the middle of his chest, and Kael could swear he could see blood dribbling down from beneath the red bandana.

This did not stop VanCleef from rushing towards one of the others and slashing his sword across their throat as he recovered from the gunshot. The man he slashed fell to his knees and dropped the daggers he had been holding, though the lack of blood spilling from him in conjunction with some light forming around his neck indicated that he too was being healed.

“Lapdogs, all of you!” VanCleef yelled as he moved to his next target, the healer. The healer was a person in robes, and they shrieked as he lunged at them. Another gunshot powered through the large cavern as VanCleef continued to rush forward, though it was apparent that he had been hit once again by the competent marksman.

VanCleef managed to get a moderately damaging strike off on the healer, but the gunshots had slowed him down enough that he was unable to finish his strike as intended. The healer cringed away, and it saved their life.

Edwin was hacking up blood as he brought a hand back and punched the healer off the ship’s deck, causing the clothed man to fall onto the scaffolding and platforms beneath where he was no threat, “Fools! Our cause is righteous!”

The last of the group, an exhausted looking old man in robes, tossed a fireball at VanCleef only for it to sail beyond the ship and fly into the far cavern wall. If it had hit VanCleef it may have set the ship afire, but the man was paid no more mind as the leader of the Defias continued onward to attack the gunman.

Edwin bobbed and weaved as he danced across the deck to approach the man with the gun, a man who stood taller and broader than even the large VanCleef, and as such aiming was difficult for the ranged fighter…so he dropped the gun and drew an axe from his back to parry the swords swinging at him.

The parry was enough to give his Warrior comrade time to finish rising to his feet and rejoin the fray, the man’s fury heightened by his humiliation. VanCleef shifted one sword to the side to parry the Warrior’s blade, but this gave the gunman time to use his size to his advantage and force VanCleef’s other blade up before dragging the axe downward across the man’s chest.

VanCleef took this in stride even as he reached the final leg of his strength, and he twisted around away from the strike so that he was free from a deadly follow up, and as he spun he whipped his sword around so it struck the back of the warrior’s armored head. This strike took the Warrior off-balance and placed him in the path of the gunman, giving VanCleef the a moment to catch his breath despite the blood oozing down his chest from his many wounds.

He coughed out blood as his mask fell from his face, revealing a relatively young man who was living his last moments, “The Brotherhood…shall prevail!”

VanCleef cut down the magic user before any of the others could do anything, his second blade burying itself in the downed man with daggers. The daggers were let go of as the man’s spinal cord was cut.

The Warrior rushed forward and unleashed a powerful slash at VanCleef, one only partly avoided by the heavily wounded man. The bandit’s sidestep let him retaliate with a strike strong enough to remove the man’s helmet, and as the Warrior moved to finish VanCleef another sword cut the man in a perfectly diagonal line from jaw to the top of his rectangular head.

The Warrior’s blade buried itself in VanCleef’s lower gut, but a backhand by the Defias leader forced the Warrior away…

…leaving him an open target for a final shot from the gunman, who seized the opportunity to shoot VanCleef. The shot was too quick to be well-aimed, but it did hit the noble rogue’s body, and it was with this final strike that VanCleef fell to his knees. One of his swords shattered as he used it to prop himself up, its battle damage causing it to chip to the size of no more than a dagger, while his other helped him prop himself up as he tried to cling to life.

“You…” VanCleef coughed as the others surrounded him, “You bastards…are you satisfied with the way things are?

Kael looked on with some sadness, as this was truly a man who thought he was doing what was best…even if it required him to act outside of the law. And here he was dying to some thug from Stormwind who would use this to brag rather than as a teaching moment that perhaps mistreating the poor could result in greater tragedy than some hungry bellies.

The Rogue’s eyes began to shut as his arms dropped and his grip on his swords loosened.

“As for me…I hate it.”

When VanCleef hit the ground, he was most certainly dead given the pool of blood surrounding him, but that did not stop the Warrior from preparing to use his sword on the fallen, ignoble hero’s neck.

“Victory for the Alliance! Glory to Stormwind!” the Stormwind man yelled out in triumph as he prepared to behead the body. Kael could swear he heard a gasp from somewhere, but he could not tell given the haziness of the vision.

The gunman caught the Warrior’s arm as his sword swung down, stopping the blow before it could occur, “What are you doing?”

“Taking proof of his defeat. What, you think they’ll just believe us?” the Warrior scoffed. As he spoke in his haughty tone the healer finally returned and began to heal their spinally challenged comrade, the other one’s death not within their powers to heal.

In a voice Kael could tell was Elvish even through the hazy vision, the gunman chastised his ally for their barbaric action, “He was a noble enemy. Inflicting harm upon his corpse is unseemly.”

The Warrior scoffed in response, tossing his blade to his other hand and finishing the job before anyone could voice another complaint, “What do you know, you bloody Elf? You lot may like things pretty, but we are willing to get our hands dirty.”

The Warrior lowered himself and grabbed the now decapitated head of Edwin by his raven black hair.

“Let us return to Sentinel Hill, allies, and inform Gryan of VanCleef's demise!”

The gunman did not speak further, and their full body of silver armor prevented Kael from seeing their expression. The Elf picked up the body of the deceased old man and began to follow the others who had moved to leave the ship from the opposite end from where the healer climbed, but just as they all began to jump off the ship a surprise occurred.

Coming out of the cabin VanCleef had originally exited was a little girl, likely a pre-teen or near that age, who began crying as she reached VanCleef.

“Daddy...”

The only one of the four survivors to notice this was the Elf, who heard it and stopped in his tracks. He turned back to look and see her just as he stepped off the boat onto a platform.

“Come on Elf! You find something, or you just wasting time?” came the obnoxious voice of the Warrior, the man more interested in going back and being paid and honored for his work than whatever the Elf was taking time to look at.

As the little girl knelt down next to VanCleef and began to cry into his blood soaked body, the Elf turned back to face the others and continued after them. He would spare the girl the pain of being taken or harmed by her father’s killers.

“No. There’s nothing.”

Kael felt his real stomach sicken as he continued to watch the girl cry into the dead body, though as she turned her head and revealed bloody cheek he felt himself sicken for another reason. Looking at her further, Kael found himself only able to think one last thing as the vision came to a close.

'No…'

Gryan Stoutmantle was actually pretty happy to see Kael as the Elf returned to Sentinel Hill, having found the Marshal at the main tower structure he had last been at when Hope was his taskmaster. He was so happy to see him return from Moonbrook that he even missed the gaunt, horrified look on the Elf’s face, though that might have had to do with the fact Kael’s glowing eyes partially masked his expressions like any other Elf’s would. The rest was because of Stoutmantle’s own optimistic outlook at the time.

He was happy. Too happy. Like he was forcing himself to be.

“What news do you bring from Westfall? Your lady friend wasn’t in the mood for talking to ‘another lazy quest giver’, so—”

Kael cut him off without any care for formality, “Edwin VanCleef had a daughter who witnessed the murder of her father by your forces, and she is the one rallying the Defias brotherhood right now. She is using the homeless to swell her ranks to the point they could form a minor army all on their own—”

In return he was cut off as soon as Stoutmantle found himself able to speak, the revelation catching him completely off guard, “WHAT? VanCleef had a daughter?”

Kael nodded affirmatively, causing the Marshal to fall silent as he thought about the ramifications of this news.

“I had no idea that VanCleef had a daughter, friend. If there was one thing that man was exceptionally skilled at, it was keeping secrets…how tragic. Poor thing witnessed a horrible act. Had I only known…”

Had anyone but the seemingly honorable Elf known, Kael was quite sure the girl would have been slain in some quiet manner to prevent the very situation they were in now: a second Defias uprising, lead by a VanCleef.

She would only be a teenager now, but Kael had a sickening feeling that such a thing was not hindering the woman. She could have used her young nature before to pass off as some innocent child, all the while plotting revenge without anyone the wiser.

“Someone did, but they didn’t open their mouth. Now, you need to listen. This daughter—”

A sudden groan from nearby caused Stoutmantle to raise a hand and silence Kael.

“What was that? Did you hear something?”

As they looked around to find the source of the sound, something struck the Marshal as odd. Only two of his normally assigned guards were nearby him, where they had been for hours, while all the others who normally patrolled the area were missing.

“…where are my guards—ON GUARD, MEN!”

The realization struck him halfway through his sentence that something was terrible wrong. Kael drew his own blade as the Marshal did the same, the complete silence in the area catching them all off guard. Even the normal moans and conversations of the homeless were gone, as were the normal masses of people in the area.

Something was very wrong. Kael hadn’t noticed it in his haste to reach Gryan, and Gryan had not known that anything out of the ordinary was happening that day so he wasn’t particularly on his guard anymore than he was at any other given moment.

“I will deploy a battalion of soldiers to Westfall at once! With the Defias Brotherhood reborn, an old threat to the kingdom is renewed. I don't like this, men. Stay alert!”

Upon this statement Trixie rushed outside of the tower’s open entrance and began looking around.

“What the Hel is going on here? What’s the commotion all about?”

Kael was relieved to see Trixie and as such missed the other person who left the tower just long enough for her to slip a dagger into Trixie’s back. Trixie fell to her knees and collapsed on the ground unconscious because of whatever poison was on the shimmering blade held in the hands of Hope Saldean.

The raven-haired girl did not spare Trixie a second glance as she looked up at Gryan with seething hatred, the man turning to her just as she leveled her dagger at his neck. This had the effect of halting his guards as well as Kael, who had cried out in anguish as Trixie fell and was ready to exact vengeance so long as it did not endanger Trixie.

Hope Saldean growled at the Marshal and his men, ignoring Kael as he stood behind them, “You bastards will burn for what you did.”

The sudden betrayal by a girl he had known for years caught the man off guard, and he gasped as he tried to realize what was happening, “Hope! Wha—”

She hissed at him and pressed the blade closer into his neck, his voice dying as fear crept into him, “Hope? Is that what I was supposed to feel when I saw my father decapitated by your henchmen? Hope is a cruel joke, played upon us by a harsh and uncaring world. There is no Hope, there is only Vanessa. Vanessa VanCleef.”

Hope cast aside her outer clothing, revealing a red and black outfit with gold trim that she had hidden beneath it. Upon doing so she pulls out a dagger Kael could not even begin to imagine how she hid until then, its orange and yellow coloration soon serving as a beacon as she lifted it to the darkening sky.

“RISE UP BROTHERHOOD! THE DAWNING DAY IS UPON US!”

Kael felt something smash him in the spine and knock him to his knees, though he considered himself lucky as the other three ended up being struck with something similar to what rendered Trixie unconscious. Only Stoutmantle was able to fight to remain conscious amongst his men, but even he was immobilized as he fell to the ground. Behind each of them now stood Defias warriors like those Kael saw slain in the vision, their dark outfits contrasted by their red bandanas.

Vanessa pulled one out of the tabard she was wearing and fastened it on her face as she spoke to the newly arrived men with authority.

“Tie them up.”

Kael wanted to react, but given the circumstances he knew it would be a fool’s errand. They had dispatched everyone with such ease that he was in no position to act. This was completely on their terms, and he would not endanger Trixie by doing something stupid.

After placing her bandana on her face, Vanessa turned her gaze to where the werewolf-being was held in the stockades. She smiled at him before approaching it and releasing him with some quick lock picking.

As he freed himself from the wooden structure, one of the Defias Brotherhood men handed her a top hat which she in turn held out to the hairy beast.

“Admiral, your hat.”

The wolf-being laughs as he transforms suddenly to a human form, one that could have slipped through the stockade at any point he wanted. He had waited for this moment in case he was needed. The sheer planning put into all of this amazed Kael, as it all came from this teenaged girl who looked older than she was, but couldn’t be more than thirteen to fourteen years old.

The “Admiral” gives a half-bow as he takes the hat and places it on his Human head, “Thank you, my dear.”

Vanessa turned towards Kael and lowered herself to his level, her eyes showing something other than hatred as she spoke.

“And you, Elf, I will spare your life from this all. You have done much to help our cause, albeit unwittingly, but the next time we meet it will be as enemies. Stay out of our way, okay?”

Vanessa makes her way down the ramp leading to the tower, but stops when Stoutmantle calls out to her.

“Just…tell me one thing, Vanessa…”

Kael slowly turned around to face her, but found himself shocked to see the area beginning to burn down around them. Sentinel Hill’s entire area was beginning to be set ablaze, a sudden occurance that most certainly had not been the case moments ago. The source of the fire was none other than a tall being with yellow, a burgeoning gut, and two heads. It was casting fire magic all around it at an astonishing pace, and if not for the conversation Kael would have been enraptured by the beauty of the flames.

Stoutmantle revealed why he had been forcing himself to stay chipper previously when Kael arrived: he had terrible news and didn’t want to confront it.

“Why'd you have the Saldeans killed?! I found their bodies in their room, poison and all!”

That struck Kael harder than the blow that had connected with his spine. The reason the Saldeans had been missing…Salma, her husband…

Kael almost rose and struck Vanessa at the thought that she had harmed the children, but her voice halted him as he began to seethe in anger of his own.

“I had no choice, Marshal. They recognized me. The only people in the world who even knew I existed, recognized my face…” she paused in an attempt to keep the composure she was rapidly losing, “Someone was looking for me…a woman came questioning them last afternoon. She had Stormwind warriors with her. If I didn’t…”

Her voice trailed off as her body shook. The Admiral shot her a look of concern as Vanessa’s voice began to quake.

Kael remembered the night before when Vanessa returned home…she had come home and likely killed the Saldean family in their sleep. She had thought her history would be revealed, and in a panic killed the ones who might be able to give her up. Knowing the Hunter who was likely the woman spoken of, Kael actually understood the worry that the Saldeans might be forced to reveal what they otherwise might not have.

“I…I took no pleasure in their deaths…and the children are going to be safe where I’ve arranged them to go.”

A scared child had acted violently to protect their own life…while Kael hated the fact that the Saldeans were dead, he could not bring himself to hate the girl after all she had gone through. She may have planned to betray everyone, but even now she wasn’t engaging in unnecessary bloodshed.

The girl had the livelihoods of hundreds if not thousands riding on her pulling far more weight than any child ought to have to.

Turning back around and preparing to leave, Vanessa fought back her tears as she yelled out to her soldiers, “Leave nothing but ashes in your wake, brothers! Burn Sentinel Hill to the ground!”

She then tosses her head towards the group at the entrance of the building, and the Admiral grabs Trixie and hoists her onto a shoulder. This done, he steps out of the way for the others to do their job.

The Defias members throw flares, setting Sentinel Tower alight. Vanessa leaves the immediate area of the now burning building and joins a small green humanoid, the Admiral, the firecaster, and a mechanical being like the Harvesters from before. Once together, the group of unique members leave, each of the group forming around Vanessa protectively.

With the others sapped of strength and Kael in no position to fight them, he was forced to watch as his partner was stolen from him. He was powerless to stop them…

Kael began to cry through sheer frustration. Damn Stormwind, damn the Brotherhood, damn all of these damn Humans, and damn the Hunter! All of them caused this tragedy to happen the way it did, all of them set things up to go so terribly as this, and there was nothing a single Elf could do about it.

Coming to that conclusion caused something in Kael to snap. He stood up and moved the soldiers away from where the flames were raging, including Stoutmantle.

After being shoved aside, the Marshal weakly spoke from his position on the ground.

“Go to Stormwind…they must know…warn…”

The response was instant and concise.

“No.”

Stoutmantle gasped from the ground, but he couldn’t muster the strength to do much more than be exasperated.

“What?!”

Kael glared down at the Marshal. He was about sick of having to listen to all of these people complicit in this tragic area, “They took my partner and I know not why. I fear for her safety, and it will take quite some time to travel to your capital.”

“Listen, you insolent Elf, I—”

That did it. Kael crouched down and looked right in the man’s eyes as he lowered his sword to the man’s neck. That was not the way a common soldier with no great station ought to talk to him.

“My name is Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider, lord of the Blood Elves, and you will be speaking to me with more respect.”

That elicited a gasp from Stoutmantle, who suddenly realized why he had gotten a feeling that this Elf seemed familiar.

“Su-Sunstrider?”

Kael stood back up and looked down at his sword before glancing over to another nearby object that lay nearby, “I am here on my own business, not yours, and I will not be ordered around at a time like this by some useless officer.”

“You…” Stoutmantle wanted to argue, but he understood that he had no jurisdiction over the leader of an opposing race who was being gracious by not just killing them all given the relations between their people, “Fine. Go. But don’t expect any help…they’ll have killed those at the Moonbrook outpost by now, and my men and I will be little use like this…”

Kael nodded as he approached the object that had caught his eye: a greatsword nearly the size of a Human man. The long silver blade was well kept, being the Marshal’s own sword, and it continued down into a golden hilt that had a wide cross guard with blue accents, while the actual hilt was largely golden outside of a blue rectangle within it.

A sharpened blade, even if it was immensely heavy, was more useful than a dulled blade given by a dead farmer.

“What are you doing?”

Kael lifted the blade up and realized that he would need two hands for it, which was fitting as the hilt was large enough to fit two hands. Whoever crafted it knew what they were doing. This done, he grabbed a bag from one of the unconscious soldiers and looked inside to find potions like those he showed to Trixie back when they first met.

“I am going to go carve my way through hundreds of outlaws. I am going to use the health potions you and your men are too stunned to make use of.”

If he could not protect a single subject, the one he admittedly cared for most, what kind of ruler could he be? Kael refused to let Trixie be held captive, and he would kill any and every noble bandit in his path if it meant bringing her back, their goals be damned.

“And yes, I’m taking your sword. If you have a complaint, rise to your feet and defeat your foe on your own. ”

“King Varian gave that to me…it is from his own house…”

Kael smirked as he looked at his own reflection in the blade, “Then it is a blade befitting of royalty. Now, rest and try not to burn as I go and do your duty for you.”

He felt a power swelling inside of him, as if he could take on the world. He even felt magic emanating from the blade he now wielded.

‘Trixie, I’m coming…be safe.’

Author's Note

If anyone found out through deductive reasoning who V was, congratulations. Shocking, I know, but such is the way of Warcraft!

Do you know what this means though? Deadmines time! First dungeon I ever remember doing...though I had a party of five at the time. Hehe. Kael could use a good partner. Preferably in green to balance out his red, since they are complimentary colors. Trixie will instead have to deal with being a hostage, but don't expect her to do nothing (cough, Sansa, cough) to free herself.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! Comments are :heart:

Level 16: You Are Free To Break The Chains of Fate That Bind You

A/N: Special thanks to SilentMech and refferee for being the only ones to comment last chapter...it kind of was depressing. And the reason it took so long to write this chapter. A part of me was just thinking "maybe if I wait another day, someone will comment!" but that never came true...I've been going through a lot personally, but I could have found the time to write if people would just let me know that they care.

I hope you all enjoy, and please, please leave your thoughts in the comments below. I miss hearing from you all.

The waft of fresh, warm bread was what woke Trixie up. Her head was in a low level of pain as she tried to pull up and look around to find the source of the overpowering smell.

By the time her sight was clear and she could see, a girl no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, possibly younger, was by the door to some unknown room Trixie was in. Trixie tried to think of who the girl was, but nothing was coming to mind as the girl began to open a wooden door to leave.

“Who…are you?”

The teenager seemed surprised to hear Trixie speak, and she turned to the Elven woman in response. The girl’s face was covered by red cloth below the nose, and her raven hair was a stark contrast to the silver locks falling down the front of Trixie’s face.

Trixie’s mind went back to what had happened to her: someone said something, then a sudden pain wracked her body, and then nothing. The red cloth told Trixie that this was not a friendly place though, and the dark room gave her a dark foreboding about her situation.

The young girl didn’t say anything back at first, instead pausing to stare at Trixie with light blue eyes. A range of emotions passed over her features faster than the groggy Trixie could study, and when they ended with the girl sighing she looked down to the floor next to her and spoke up in a soft voice.

“Come on Cookie.”

Trixie looked to the same place and saw an odd creature of about a foot and a half height standing beside the young girl. It was unlike anything Trixie had seen before, as it had a blue body, yellow curved spines coming off its back that didn’t appear dangerous, and humanoid limbs. She couldn’t see its face because it had a stereotypical pirate’s hat on, concealing its upper body from sight given Trixie’s position behind it.

They left without another word, and Trixie was left to think.

Where was she? Who were they? Why had they taken her? Was this the so called Defias brotherhood?

And, most importantly to Trixie’s rumbling stomach, was that bread on the floor over there?

It had taken time for Kael to decide what to do after Vanessa’s reveal. They had left no tracks he could follow, and he had no real clue where they could be off to. It would be foolish for them to be at their original residence in the Deadmines, since that would be too obvious, but then again such a move would be ingenious.

Still, they could most certainly have a new base…Whatever the case, Kael could not just rush in and hope to accomplish anything. He knew he had limits at his current skill level, but he would also not just sit back and let these thieves take his partner away to do who knows what.

To regroup and think things over, as well as search for one thing in particular, Kael went back to the house of the Saldeans.

He did not expect it to be burned to the ground. Completely brought down to the ground, smoldering, smoke leading into the sky. He had seen the smoke from a distance given the flat landscape, but a part of Kael had been hoping it was just the chimney acting up.

No. The farm was burnt to the ground, and standing nearby it was a man in dark green chainmail looking at it all with a bored expression. Not knowing the Human man’s allegiance, but not trusting just about anybody after what had happened, Kael approached the Human with his new sword drawn and prepared for fighting. It was heavier than his previous sword, but it didn’t feel too off in Kael’s palms. He felt stronger holding it, as if the sword itself was giving him power.

The Human saw Kael coming from a mile away, and he pulled out a sword of his own and a shorter blade of a make Kael did not know.

Kael paused and let the man speak, “Easy there. I didn’t burn down the place, some other bloke did that.”

That did not make Kael lower his blade. The speed at which the man drew his weapons showed that he was dangerously agile, and while Kael had stopped fifteen feet away from him he still felt like it was too little for comfort, “Then what are you doing here?”

The man had been leaning back against a fence post when Kael approached, and while he did not go back to slouching against it he did relax some as he gave a nonchalant shrug, “I could be asking you the same question, my blonde friend.”

Kael did not trust this man. He was just coincidentally sitting by the burning house when Kael went to it? No. He had heard that the Hunter had been hiring people to find him, and Kael had a good feeling this was one of them. He had the distant eyes of a killer, and he most certainly had an agenda.

Still, Kael needed to feel this man out a bit more. If the mercenary man was truly serving as a bounty hunter, Kael knew he would be in trouble. Just as he felt power radiating off his own weapon, he could feel it coming from the man before him. It was a subtle feeling, one that was understated unless paid attention to specifically, but it was most definitely there.

If Kael were to come out ahead, he would need time, “I was a guest in this home…” he paused as he continued to hold his heavy blade ready for battle, “The people who took me in were murdered by someone last night. Now I return to find their home burnt to the ground.”

The supposed mercenary nodded but said nothing, instead looking Kael’s body over a bit as the Elf stood nervously before him. Kael could not wait to be powerful enough to not be threatened by some cutthroat hired for a few silver or gold.

The man not speaking but rather studying him caused Kael further discomfort. The mercenary had probably come up with a plethora of ways to rush him and strike him down already, only not doing so because of something in the man’s head that Kael couldn’t ascertain.

“Now you,” Kael prodded, hoping to revitalize the conversation.

The response was less than satisfying for him.

“Work,” another bored shrug.

Kael gestured to him in his confusion, “Work?”

The man nodded back, “Work.”

Given little to go off of, Kael decided to reveal his hypothesis. He had an idea of how to handle this if he was correct, “You were sent by another Elf to come and interrogate them for answers concerning something.”

The mercenary’s eyebrows raised as he nodded his head slowly, “Perceptive, uh…Sunbather,” he moved his hand a little as he purposefully misstated Kael’s last name.

Still relaxed, the mercenary nodded over at the former home of the Saldeans, then turned back to fully face Kael with a more interested expression, “You see, I came here to ask the poor folks if they’ve seen any Elves around. Heard from someone nearby they like taking in wanderers now and again.”

Kael tensed underneath his leather armor. The mercenary was quite astute to have tracked him down like this, but why had he done so alone if he was going to fight two people originally? Was he that confident he could best them, or was something else going on in the man’s mind?

“I see.”

The mercenary smirked darkly at Kael, “Funny thing is, I think I remember one of them being a blonde guy who wears red. Happen to know him?”

There it was. Kael straightened himself out and took a step back, leveling his blade at the mercenary man who still had yet to take a step forward.

The mercenary saw the aggression and prepared his own blades for battle, though he kept his distance, “Listen, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I only need your head after all, but I hear they’re paying more for you alive.”

Kael decided to bring out his first line of defense, “Did they tell you who I am?”

“Aye. Some dumb cunt who thinks he’s Kael’thas Sunstrider,” the mercenary gave the smallest nod to Kael and then smirked again, “Have to say, you do look the part.”

A sellsword ought to be weak to an appeal to greed, so Kael thought to continue this line of defense while hoping the man was as smart as he thought he was, “And if I said I am the man in question?”

Unfortunately, the mercenary was smarter than even the expected level of intelligence.

“If you were the man they say you’re pretending to be, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You see, I see that sword you’re carrying. I see your nicks and bruises. The real prince of the prissy men wouldn’t have those when confronting no more than street thugs.”

Kael could see that he was not going to get anywhere on his looks alone, and he did not have much else to confirm his identity. The man was too smart to just bribe on words alone, he needed something more concrete…

Still, Kael did not have the time to think of a better way to prove his identity just yet. He kept his blade raised, refusing to just let this sellsword stop him before he could save Trixie.

Seeing the weapon still leveled at him, the mercenary sighed and prepared to move forward, “Hard way it is.”

Kael began to say the words to one of his spells, but the sound died in his throat when he was suddenly forced to block the mercenary’s longer blade with his own. This was made worse when the mercenary’s smaller blade lunged for Kael’s throat, the speed the warrior was displaying being far beyond anything Kael could remember seeing. There truly were powerful people…and he was not one of them.

Currently.

“Wait!”

It was a rushed cry, and while it caused the mercenary to not skewer Kael through the neck but rather the shoulder, Kael was quickly knocked over and pushed flat on his back. His sword was kicked away and the mercenary impaled a part of Kael’s armor to pin it to the ground without harming him.

“You have ten seconds to make me reconsider letting you live. You can cast magic, I heard your spell, and I’m not going to let you do anything stupid. I’ll take you in dead if it means I don’t have to deal with a tricky spell user.”

With little time available, Kael tried reaching into one of the bags he had with him only for the mercenary to stomp on his arm and grip his neck to keep him from speaking.

Kael had figured out how he was going to secure his hook on this skilled sellsword.

The mercenary removed the bag from Kael and carefully placed its contents on the ground nearby, still restraining Kael all the while to keep him from doing anything. However, while looking through the healing potions and the like the man’s eye caught sight of something shining amongst the mess of the bag.

“Do you know what that is?” Kael choked out, barely able to speak with the hand carefully gripping his neck.

In the man’s palm was the ring belonging to…the name struck Kael like a memory rushing back to him: Sylvanas Windrunner, first ranger or something like that, of Silvermoon…and current leader of…of…

The mercenary looked over the ring carefully, though it was apparent that he couldn’t pick up its Elven heritage given his own background, “A pretty damn fine ring,” he pocketed the jewelry and flashed a smug grin at Kael before resuming his complete domination of Kael, “Thanks, I can sell it when we’re done here. Now, if that’s all—”

Seeing the man go for his blade again, Kael spoke up despite the hand around his neck, “It belonged to Sylvanas Windrunner!” that got the mercenary to give some pause, though it was only really enough to keep Kael’s head on and for the neck squeezing to lighten, “Why would I have that if I am not who I say I am?”

The gears turned in the Human’s mind, but he did not release Kael. He possessed a level of savvy that actually unnerved Kael.

“See, funny thing is, I can’t confirm that you’re telling the truth or not unless I bring this to someone to get it appraised. You think I’d just leave you alone to go do that? Or bring you to a place in the city you might be able to slip away?”

This might bite him in the ass later on, but if it meant not dying right now…

“If I am who I say I am, I can reward you one day with far greater riches than a ring. If I am lying, you’ll have a priceless ring that can earn you a reward from a powerful woman, and you can easily track me down again I presume. After all, that Hunter came across the entire continent to come give me grief,” Kael rationalized.

The man pressing him into the ground looked Kael in the eyes carefully, then after analyzing him and seeing that he was telling the truth, he stood up and ripped his blade from Kael’s armor.

He sheathed the weapon behind him but kept the other out to still threaten Kael, “We didn’t have this conversation,” he began to walk away from the farm as Kael began to get up and catch up on the breathe he had been short of, “And you had better hope there’s some truth to what you’re saying.”

Once he was about ten steps away the mercenary paused and nodded over to another part of the farm just as Kael finished getting back up.

“Oh, by the way, there’s a box over there you might want to go through. There’s even a little lizard tied next to it.”

Once the mercenary was completely gone, Kael put his stuff back together and rushed to where the mercenary had indicated. Surely enough, the Mana Wyrm Trixie had taken in (stolen) was tied to a chest that was locked. Kael used his flames to burn the chains holding the animal there and also used them to burn off the chest’s lock.

The Mana Wyrm rushed to his side and began to quickly fly around him in an excited manner. It likely had been tied there ever since the person set the house on fire…but the manner in which the person took the effort to do so made Kael believe Vanessa had done it. The girl wasn’t evil despite having killed her adoptive parents, she was simply a hurt child who was angry at the world for having taken her real family from her and scared that they would come back and kill her too.

Kael seized the Mana Wyrm and embraced it to get it to stop, and once it settled into his arms he began to stroke it softly, “Nana…”

He looked inside the chest, and inside were the possessions he and Trixie had left inside the house still. Vanessa truly was thoughtful…but she had taken Trixie, and that was unforgivable.

Looking into the Wyrm’s glowing eyes, Kael revealed his true reason for coming back to the farm.

“I need you to find Trixie.”

The room Trixie was in was not too cramped, but because of it she quickly ascertained that she was on a ship by the slow rocking back and forth of the floor, which would explain the odd room size. The ship wasn’t ever shaking all that much though, and it really felt like it was going nowhere. So she was on a ship that was docked…but why?

After eating the bread provided for her, Trixie quickly found out how stupid that idea was as she fell asleep again moments later. She managed to get back to the bed provided for her, but she was passed out face down on the bed when she came to the realization that the bread had been dosed in some sleep inducing substance.

Whomever had knocked her out in the first place had come once again rendered her helpless. The back to back humiliation irritated Trixie on a personal level she had not felt yet since she arrived in this unknown land. She was the Great and Powerful Trixie, she would not just be reduced to some fool!

The room was bare, with nothing left inside of it that she could use to assist her escape outside of possibly using the bed as a battering ram. Trixie didn’t think she would be able to do much to the door, since there was a magical glow of sorts around it, in addition to the more mundane fact of also being reinforced on the other side.

Because of this Trixie was left to dawdle in the bare room, and soon after her anger simmered it gave way to worry. Where was Kael? What happened to everyone at Sentinel Hill if she could be knocked out and kidnapped in front of so many others. She hadn’t even managed to find Hope Saldean by the time it happened, even though the guard outside had said Hope had gone inside earlier. What, could the girl just vanish?

Still, Trixie had no idea what was going to happen from here on out, and as much as she wanted to remain optimistic that everyone was okay, she had worry burrowing through her gut as thoughts came to her mind about the possibilities of their fates.

The glowing door eventually stopped glowing and Trixie heard the entire barricade of locking tools and whatever gadgets lay outside. Soon after it opened and in came blinding light. Since they hadn’t given Trixie much of anything there was no candle or lamp to light the room up, but there was some light creeping in through the door to make the room just barely visible in all of its bareness.

Standing in the way of the light and suddenly casting a large shadow was a girl in red clothing with a red bandana signifying that she was a part of the Defias brotherhood. Trixie quickly prepared to sling a spell at her when she recognized her as the one from before…who was still just a child.

Trixie cursed her morality as she sat still on the bed and watched as the girl gave her a short look before placing bread on the floor in the same place it had been before. Beside the girl was the blue thing again, though now Trixie could see its face. The fish with legs and arms had black irises in the center of large yellow orbs. It had a white belly and chin, and the front of its skinny arms and hands was green.

It was holding the girl’s hand and watching as she placed the plate of food down. Trixie felt sick to her stomach at the sight of the bread because of the previous plate.

Trixie rolled over onto her side and gave a disapproving look, part of her wondering if she could just teleport outside the door…and only not doing so because the view outside was one of a dark cavern and the edge of a boat. She wouldn’t be going anywhere most likely, especially since she could hear the voices of countless others outside.

“More tainted food?”

The girl looked up to Trixie and narrowed her eyes as if she were scrutinizing the prisoner, “This won’t put you to sleep, and it won’t kill you, so just be quiet. You’ll only be here a couple more days.”

A couple days, huh? So they really had captured Trixie with some purpose in mind…but what for? Kael was the important person, not her, right?

“Who are you, and what do you want? I know you work for the Defias, but what do you need me for?”

The girl’s eyes relaxed as she turned around and slowly approached the still open door. Part of Trixie was unsure whether the girl was comfortable with Trixie not being bound and gagged because she was a child, or whether it was fine because she believed herself capable of handling Trixie all on her own…or at least with the aid of the fish thing.

The lack of verbal response irritated Trixie, though she hid the feeling from her voice, “No? Nothing at all?”

The fish looked up at the Human girl, but its giant, unblinking eyes did not reveal any particular emotion as it spoke in nonsense words.

“Mrglemrglemrgle?”

That got a response out of the girl, who lowered herself to the ground and picked up the blue thing and hugged him for a moment. This done, she placed it back down and the fish stood beside her a moment before looking over at Trixie.

It took a couple steps toward Trixie, its pirate hat partially askew because of the embrace it just participated in, and in turn Trixie brought a hand out towards it. It was an animal pet, right? So would it want to be pet?

“So, who is this little fellow?”

“Don’t touch him!”

The teenager lunged forward and scooped up the fish and brought it back away from Trixie in a step so quick it was practically invisible to Trixie’s eyes. The teenager appeared back by the door with the little being in its arm before Trixie could even finish reaching her arm out and brush against the fish.

After pausing and making sure the fish thing was okay, the girl sighed and pulled him in tighter. Trixie could feel stress radiating off of the teenager, and something in the back of her head was telling her that she didn’t have a great set of teenage years herself.

In fact, Trixie distinctly remembered starving. Living alone and starving day to day. Trixie was shocked enough by the sudden surge of thought, of remembering something, that she didn’t verbally respond to the sudden grab a moment ago.

Instead, to Trixie’s surprise, the girl spoke again in a rough voice that both sounded its age while also feeling like it could pass for older if one wasn’t paying attention.

“His name is Cookie. He’s my…friend.”

The emphasis of the last word gave Trixie the feeling that this girl didn’t have many of those. Or any, outside of Cookie. Was that what living with the Defias was like, or was it something else? They were a brotherhood after all, so Trixie doubted they were all distant from one another. So why was she different?

Knowing that she should be careful around the girl, whose pair of daggers shined in the room’s only light as they hung off a belt, Trixie slowly spoke as Cookie was stroked on the forehead just above his big eyes, “I’ve never seen anything like him before.”

The Defias member seemed to calm down as she brought her head down into the pirate hat she had most likely given Cookie.

“He’s a Murloc. He’s a smart Murloc,” she glanced over to the bread in the side of the room, “He’s our cook.”

“I see where he gets his name from then.”

In a surprising revelation of her age and lack of maturity, the girl held Cookie out and began to glare and snarl at him as he quietly let himself hang from her hands, “No, he got his name because he was trying to steal my cookies when I was a little girl.”

“Aren’t you young still?” Trixie remarked, though she was hardly one to talk. She couldn’t nail down a date specifically, but she didn’t feel like she was over two decades old herself. Still, she was an adult at the very least, unlike the girl before her.

The girl snorted and let Cookie down, at which point he began to leave and she followed, “Whatever, granny.”

That actually rose Trixie’s temper back to where it had been earlier, for once again her ego was trampled upon when she was already feeling insecure, “Just because my hair is silver does not mean I am old!”

On the way out the girl only paused to talk Trixie down again, “Stop talking and eat. I was told to make sure you were healthy.”

Trixie quashed another temptation to bolt out behind the other girl, believing it to be a fool’s errand: they said she’d be there a few more days, and in the meantime she could try and find some way to get out while she had the freedom of being unchained. If she tried to run they might not be so kind, though the lack of chains did make her wonder…if they were not even chaining her, am were providing her with a bed, why would they want to just lock her away?

As the door shut Trixie got in the last word, hoping to help cheer up the girl who she was beginning to empathize with.

“This bread smells nice. Thank you for it.”

After all, who would like to be born into poverty or have a family so poor that joining a group of outlaws seemed like it was the best option?

Trixie waited and began thinking of things she could do to escape. She could try and force herself to sneeze and bust down the door. She could use her own magic to try and wreck the door. Or the wall. The wall was made of some kind of wood, and Trixie doubted they would reinforce it as well as the door. A rookie mistake.

Still, if Trixie broke down the wall, then what? She knew she was on a ship that wasn’t going anywhere yet, but they were inside some cave. A pirate’s cavern or something like that most likely. They had people all around, and while Trixie was confident she could beat a few up it just would not be realistic to beat more than a few of them. They wouldn’t kill her, she could tell that much by how they were keeping her locked up and fed, but they might not be so kind to her the second time around.

As Trixie sat contemplating her way out of the mess she was in the door opened up again. This time she noticed the giant wolf-being walk by for a moment as the girl walked inside with more food. Cookie did not accompany her this time, and Trixie couldn’t help but think it was because of the way things went down last time.

Trixie was bored for the most part, having been waiting around for more time than she could keep track of in the dark, and so she started their conversation off with a random subject.

“My friend has a scarf like that.”

Kael did have one nearly identical to it. Not the same make as the common ones encountered in Moonbrook, rather a well crafted sort that likely was quite expensive. However had a spare of it ended up with the Elves up north Trixie would take a good deal more time to learn.

The girl looked down at the red cloth on her face and then turned to face Trixie with an obviously sour expression on despite half her face being covered.

“It’s not a scarf, it’s a bandana!” the Defias girl growled, though she soon began to mumble something about how she “should have taken” something or another.

Trixie held her hands up defensively, realizing that she had pressed a button unintentionally, “I apologize. I didn’t mean to make you angry…”

“It was my father’s…” the girl quieted down as she placed the food down once again, opting once more to do so away from Trixie to keep some distance between them, “I lost his other one…”

The soft voice hit Trixie in the gut. This girl had lost her father, and quite possibly her mother. The Defias had an orphan in their ranks, something that brought back a feeling of familiarity as well in Trixie.

“I’m sorry...”

What could she do but offer her condolences? She wasn’t the one in power here, even if it was the orphan girl who was hurting before her.

Their hands tightened up into balled fists, pale skin growing paler as the girl clenched them in quiet fury, “You didn’t kill him. Those damn men from Stormwind took my father’s head. Them and their Elven ally, that two colored bastard.”

Trixie’s pity took a back seat to fear as she saw the sheer determined look on the younger’s girl’s face as she continued to speak with anger dripping from her quiet voice.

“I’m going to make them pay. Now that I have the power to do so, I will take my revenge. I’ll make them all suffer the way I have, for what they’ve all made me do…”

Trixie might not be a great people person on the personal level, but she knew enough, and a part of her was feeling a kindred spirit in this girl. They had felt the same pain, even if Trixie could not fully remember her own just yet.

“Come here.”

The orphan looked over to Trixie in surprise, not expecting outstretched arms and a comforting but not smiling face. Trixie wasn’t going to say everything would be all right, but she wanted to at least offer some form of comfort.

The girl drew a dagger and pointed it at Trixie, though her voice was revealing of her shock in the face of sympathy, “As if I would trust someone in my jail.”

“I’m not going to hurt a child,” Trixie teleported straight past the dagger and quickly embraced the girl in a hug before she could say or do anything about it. Trixie might be self-absorbed at times, but empathy was not lost on her, “And I’m sorry you had to go through that. No-one should feel that pain…”

The dagger made a loud clank as it fell to the floor and bounced off the wooden structure. Trixie had expected partially to get nicked by it either through retaliation or by accident, so the sound was a welcome one.

She had surprised the girl enough to shock her into accidently disarming. A more sinister person would take advantage of this, but Trixie refused to. She would escape this place of her own skill, not through taking advantage of a child’s naiveté.

Trixie felt the girl struggle at first, but she calmed down over the course of a few seconds. Once this was done, she moved to return the hug just before violently shaking her head and pushing Trixie away with strength far greater than one of her age and slight build ought to muster.

Once Trixie was no longer touching her the girl shot her a death glare.

“I killed the last person who did that. You’re lucky I need you alive.”

This said, she turned on her heel and walked out. Once again, Trixie wouldn’t let her have the last word, all the while smiling to herself at how she nearly got through.

“Tell Cookie thank you for the bread!”

Perhaps with some time she could manage to accomplish that. While they were opposed in terms of allegiance, Trixie held no ill will for this particular captor. She was a scared girl who had lost her father, likely to the same people Trixie had been working with and for. Trixie could understand the angst.

“Vanessa.”

The girl had suddenly stopped, though she hadn’t turned around to face Trixie.

Trixie raised an eyebrow. Stating what she assumed was a name did not mean much to her, as it could mean anything without context, “What?”

“My name’s Vanessa. When you speak to me, use it.”

And with that, Vanessa VanCleef left Trixie wordless in their third true meeting.

The next time Trixie’s attention was roused was when she suddenly had an idea of how to apply and abuse her powers to this situation. Pushing her bed aside with such ease that she actually began to grasp her own equine strength, Trixie froze the floor beneath it. With a punch she managed to break through the frozen surface, and she looked beneath to find that it was a dark storage room beneath her. Not even a finished storage room by the looks of it, but rather one under construction.

She was in a shipyard. The boat wasn’t going anywhere because it couldn’t yet.

With the bed moved aside, Trixie froze gradually more and more while slowly breaking it bit by bit. She managed to carve out in this way a rectangle that was smaller than the bed, and with enough luck she could sneak out through it and then return and cover it with the bed like she had never been gone.

Breaking out the way they expected was stupid, but if they didn’t know she was gone then she would still be fine. By sneaking around she could find out more and possibly devise an escape route.

Trixie slipped through the newly made entrance, quickly considering the many stackable crates in the room as a way of covering up the hole from beneath. This done, she snuck to the other side of the room and found the door.

It had no window, so in order to see anything Trixie was forced to slowly creak it open when she heard no voices on the other side.

This was noticed immediately by the long eared being with fur all over his body standing outside, Ripsnarl. He turned to face Trixie and she froze in panic at the sight of him. Knowing that she was already in trouble, she didn’t try to run. Where could she run to after all?

“Prisoner, what are you doing here? How did you get out of your room?”

Trixie thought of a quick lie so that they might not look for her escape route, “I accidently teleported out of it when muttering some spells I’ve been trying to memorize and learn. Didn’t know what they did and I was curious,” she noticed that he was helping some others with the boat’s construction, and so she jokingly asked him, “Do you need a hand?”

He snorted in recognition of the humor she was making of her situation, though by then she had everyone’s attention. A small green man not much taller than Cookie, a two-headed behemoth with yellow skin and one eye on each head, a giant robot carrying entire stacks of timber, and of course Ripsnarl himself.

“We are fine. Go back to your cell. Glubtok, make sure she stays put this time.”

Ripsnarl had gestured to the giant being with sickly yellow skin when he said Glubtok, and the large being lumbered towards Trixie at his command.

Before Glubtok could lead her back to her room, Trixie stepped out with her hands up while speaking hurriedly, “Wait, who are you all?”

The more she could get them to reveal, the better off she’d be, right?

Ripsnarl bowed to Trixie, “We are the lieutenants of the Defias Brotherhood. We are what remains after our downfall some years back.”

The green being smirked and pointed a finger at himself as he spoke in a higher pitched voice than even the Saldean kids had, “I’m Helix Gearbreaker. This is Foe Reaper 5000,” he pointed at the giant mechanical being that was really just an oversized Harvest golem, “You saw the dumbass, Glubtok already, and of course there is our Admiral, Ripsnarl.”

Trixie nodded in thanks to him for saying everyone’s names. Now, stalling part two, “Okay, now that you so nicely introduced everyone, why are you hurting innocent people?”

Ripsnarl stood up fully only to then lower his head in sadness, his face still capable of displaying it despite his werewolf appearance, “We have no other way of life. We started as a group of mechanics, architects, and other kinds of engineers who worked in Stormwind. However, the nobles who hired us to build there refused to pay us after we finished the job.”

That got Helix to lose his smug look, and Glubtok’s shoulders sank as Ripsnarl continued to talk. Trixie too was losing any last traces of animosity she had towards them as he finished the tale.

“Unable to feed ourselves, and unable to work under such conditions, we fled from the capital and formed our Brotherhood. Edwin VanCleef was our leader, but the ignoble men of Stormwind had mercenaries come to take his head. We fought, and we lost many of our brothers and sisters, but in the end we could not save him.”

“We would have all perished if not for the aid of our current leader. They took us from the brink of death and helped us rebuild these past years.”

Helix looked uncomfortable as he stood beside his Admiral, “Ripsnarl, why are you telling her this? Like she needs our sob story.”

The Admiral and apparent leader of this bunch brought a hand out towards Trixie while looking to Helix, “We are not the villains. We must resort to ill deeds, but I want others to understand that we have no choice. If those in Stormwind had not ruined our lives we would have never come to this, and now we have no choice but to continue or else starve or be executed.”

Trixie laughed as a memory came to mind of her first moments in Westfall, “I was talking with my friend the other day about invading Stormwind and taking it over,” her words surprised the others gathered, amusing her greatly, “I’m glad I wasn’t wrong in thinking they need new management.”

Ripsnarl nodded in agreement, though his face remained forlorn, “It is unfortunate that you are our current meal ticket. We’ve been given seemingly endless amounts of supplies to capture you and turn you over to our benefactor. With a mind like that you would make a good Defias member.”

Stalling part three, though Trixie found she was actually enjoying getting a look inside the minds of those who would capture her. She was their “meal ticket”, so it meant they were getting paid to do this. But by whom and for what reason?

“There is a girl who brings me food. Why do you take children into your ranks?”

“We have people of all ages and all races working in our Brotherhood. We take those who no-one else will. The poor from Stormwind and Westfall come to us in the hope that we will overthrow those who oppressed them and bring them to glory in the process,” Ripsnarl explained once again, his voice sounding like that of a gentleman rather than the savage beast he appeared to be.

“I see…” Trixie muttered, “That would explain the cook…”

Helix scoffed, obviously figuring out who Trixie was speaking of, “Can’t believe our dear leader made him a freakin’ Captain…can that thing even steer a boat?”

Foe Reaper 9000 spoke up after him with surprising sass for a robot, “Subject: Helix. Measurement: Marginally larger.”

“Yeah, yeah, but at least I got a brain to counter my vertical issues!”

Ripsnarl looked to Trixie again with a frown, for he obviously did not enjoy what he had to do, “Ms. Lulamoon, I hope you bear no grudge against us for this matter. It is not personal, it’s business, and if we had the opportunity to we would be more than just thieves and kidnappers.”

Helix looked over Glubtok and then chuckled to himself, “Well, most of us.”

Trixie sighed and let her own shoulders sink this time. She was captured by misfits who needed to do this to eat and continue on with their semi-noble crusade against ignoble nobles. Depending on who was paying, Trixie was half-heartedly tempted to let them sell her. She could escape from the next group who was less sympathetic.

Still, she wanted out. She wanted to find Kael and get out of Westfall with their new pet and all.

“I can’t exactly say I blame you, but it would be very nice if you let me go. If I told you I know a prince who would be willing to pay you back at a later date you wouldn’t believe me, would you?”

“I apologize, but it appears as if we are already being funded by royalty.”

Ripsnarl looked to the two-headed being again and sighed.

“Glubtok. Make sure she stays put.”

“Okay,” each head responded, though the lack of synchronization keyed Trixie in that they weren’t linked by anything more than a body.

It had taken quite some time, but Kael had finally managed to find where he needed to go: the Deadmines. Nana had brought him to the cave after he gave her something of Trixie’s to smell, and he was quite sure that he was at the right place. The sound of pickaxes was coming from down inside the mine, and he could faintly hear voices.

This was it. He could very well die in there trying to save Trixie, but he did not know how much time he had to save her. He was just thankful he had gone right to finding Nana and not waste time with finding Stormwind help, as her scent may have faded otherwise. Nana had only barely managed to track her after all, since Mana Wyrms weren’t exactly bred for their noses.

Kael told the animal to stay by the entrance where he took the incense before, but it began to follow him inside.

“You don’t need to come in with me.”

Despite his statement, Nana continued after him.

“Well, if you insist…let’s hope you can fight.”

Things were about to get…difficult.

Screams and yells came echoing through the cavern as Trixie began to be led back to her room by Glubtok. She looked off the boat to where a series of docks led to a shore that in turn led in to an upper part of the cave through a mouth in the wall.

“What’s that noise?” Helix groaned.

Extremely pained cries could be heard, including those from one person whose cries came out in words, “GUST…OF WIND—”

The speaker didn’t finish as their voice collapsed into an audible wheeze that echoed still. Everyone nearby Trixie seemed to recognize it, and Helix slammed his hand down on a piece of timber he was standing by.

“Damnit, that damned Captain got free again!”

Ripsnarl growled as he looked to where he could hear the noise all coming from, “When is that damned fool going to give up?”

Helix piped back up, “Can we kill him this time? He’s the worst hostage ever! We can’t even use him to barter since Stormwind doesn’t know we’re here just yet!”

His boss didn’t respond, his eyes narrowing on the opening to the rest of the cave where his sensitive ears were picking up everything.

Helix continued on, quite thoroughly fed up with the constant attempts this soldier made at getting free, “We can’t afford for him to ruin anything at this point. At least he’s trying to break out, not in. We put the new guys up front, so we’re not really losing anything.”

Ripsnarl sighed and then nodded, acquiescing to the request with a heavy heart.

“Glub’tok, go deal with it. He’s been starved for weeks, some fire should put him down. I’ll escort the prisoner to her room.”

Just as Trixie got a few steps forward to accommodate her new guard, a voice to the side made her long ears stand up straight.

“Helix, you too. Just to be sure.”

Trixie gaped as she watched Helix bow before Vanessa, whose confidence suddenly made sense in retrospect. This was V. Vanessa…VanCleef.

Her father was Edwin VanCleef, the man Trixie was told was murdered years back.

“Vanessa…”

Ripsnarl approached Vanessa as Helix and Glubtok left them as commanded. His face displayed concern for Vanessa, though he seemed hesitant to say or do anything with it.

“Will you…be okay?”

Vanessa watched as her two lieutenants left them and went to quell the minor riot, “I only killed two people I loved dearly. I’ll be fine with you killing their nephew.”

Trixie was distracted partially by her words, but a bigger part of her was screaming that this was her chance. If anything, this would be her opportunity to slip away while attention was directed elsewhere. Once she was back in her room she could slip out the way she came and make a break for it…wherever it would take her.

“HARPOON!”

Everyone turned back to face the loud shout from the jailbreaker, whose fervor was quite admirable to all but those fighting to keep him chained.

“Damn knight, just give up already!”

The second, and last, battle for the Deadmines was just beginning.

Author's Note

Vanessa: Cookie, Trixie: Kael—I mean Nana.

Stormwind Captain based on a person I ran into in WoW on my Trixie character...who in turn is based on someone else. Anyone who knows the reference without looking it up wins!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! Comments are :heart:

Level 17: Hell In a Prison

A/N: Special thanks to refferee, the alicorn huntard, Danlek, SilentMech, ILurvTrixie, and nioniosbbbb for your comments last chapter, they really helped me out and if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have been able to update so swiftly! Thank you again, and I hope to continue hearing from you guys.

On a side note, special thanks to whoever wrote the Hellena Prison level of LotD, as I am referencing your work just like Blizzard likes doing their own references. And by that, I mean Blizzard and I rip something off, change the dialogue a bit, and then laugh as we amuse ourselves with in-jokes few will get.

Hope you all enjoy, and I look forward to hearing from you all after we meet our newest member of team Lulamoon-Sunstrider! (Moon-Sun? Night and Day? Ah well, they can figure out a title later.)

Once Kael set foot inside the entrance of the Deadmines he knew instantly that he was in over his head. Not that it would stop him, but it was most certainly not going to be easy. He could hear in the distance the echoes of mine picks, the murmur of voices, and the creak of machinery. The mercenary from before with the green armor and oily hair had said if Kael was who he claimed to be a normal Human would be no threat…hopefully that meant that, for the amnesiac Kael, he had the potential to take on far greater odds than someone of his level ought to be capable of.

Of course, it had been said as an insulting reality check, but Kael did like the thought that he had power even if it was not readily available to him. He was Kael’Thas Sunstrider, right? Then he had created a reputation off of something back before his amnesia.

Taking a peek into the dark cavern with only torches to light it made Kael further realize that if this was like most caverns it would branch out and not just have one tunnel…and he likely would not have the time to keep track of what led where once he began his raid on the Defias. They wouldn’t be happy with him, and getting lost and cornered would mean death most likely.

Getting lost made him recall that he had a very detailed map of the land, which Kael retrieved from a pocket and began to peruse as Nana swam around the air by his knees. By the time the Mana Wyrm had completed three laps around him Kael had located what he had been hoping for.

“The map has details on this place?” he smirked as he noticed notes even about troop movements that were likely out of date now, though the names Mr. Smite, Sneed, and Gilnid made Kael wonder if they had been…obstacles given how they were scripted in specifically in certain places on the pathway, “Reuenthal is one to pay attention to detail, I suppose.”

A quick study of the map showed Kael that his intuition had been correct: he’d have been hopelessly lost if he had not consulted it. After memorizing which ways he would have to travel, Kael decided it was time to go about enacting his one man rescue.

No-one was at this end of the cave’s mouth where he would enter in and begin his descent underground, but a voice was not too far off in the distance. Kael could hear them talking about having to come all the way up here for a forgotten cart and the complainer was blaming the miners for whatever had happened.

“A mine cart?”

Kael glanced around the “room” he was in to see if he could locate it. Surely enough, the Defias member complaining was not complaining for nothing: a large mine cart sat in the center of the room. Kael rushed over to it without another moment passing and looked inside: it was half full, and it had a tarp of sorts lying lazily on top of it. Smiling to himself, Kael climbed inside the cart and pulled the tarp so that it covered him completely. By curling up he managed to fit himself, though his sword was not quite as flexible. It poked out at the edge of the tarp but Kael just had to hope in the bad lighting the one coming to get the cart would not take notice.

Nana found her own way in under the tarp and nestled into Kael’s chest, causing him to shhh her since her serpent tail was tapping on the tarp right above them. She listened, seemingly quite well trained and intelligent for an animal, just in time for the drudging along Defias grunt approached the cart. They didn’t pay it any mind as they began to push it, instead focusing on their own woes as they realized the weight of their job.

“This thing weighs a damn ton!” the criminal cursed as he continued to push it along, “Should have made that tough guy Slambert do it. What good are prisoners for if they won’t do our chores for us?”

Kael was grateful that this person obviously was too wrapped up in their own world to give him much notice, but he had a backup plan already: his sword could always be moved to impale the man should he become wary of his cart. While Kael doubted there were many Elves around these parts, he could swap clothes with the fool.

Fortunately it did not have to come to that, as the mine cart was slowly pushed down the pathways leading toward the inner sanctum of the cave, where the real operations were centered including a foundry and a…mast room? Kael had no idea what that was, but he was quite sure it would be disappointing once he found out.

After it came to a halt, with the Defias man grunting something about needing to take a break, Kael peeked outside by moving the tarp gingerly. Outside he could see a group of people striking the hard soil of the cavern while a few guards in mixtures of red, black, and brown leather and cloth armor all overlooked them.

He made it. Nobody was expecting a sudden attack, and perhaps if he struck them down fast enough he could give himself another moment to plan the next step of this daring rescue.

Nobody was looking at the unassuming mine cart, so when Kael slowly removed himself from it he did not draw anyone’s attention. They were all busy talking, yelling at their prisoners who stood in shackles as they were forced to mine, and the strikes of the metal against rock and minerals made more noise than him.

“W-who are you!?”

Unfortunately the man who had been pushing the cart had not gone far. He was exhausted from his labor though and was slow to react as Kael lunged forward and silenced him with a slash across the throat. They weren’t going to go easy on him, and he couldn’t afford to be merciful with such dire odds.

By then the others in the chamber had all taken note of him and their now deceased comrade, and a variety of yells and clinks of metal rung in the cave.

“I'm discovered…” Kael cursed as he prepared himself for battle. He had hoped to ride out this stealth boon as long as he could, but now he was forced into the first of many conflicts that day.

Kael was just glad he had grabbed a quick nap before he arrived at the Deadmines, or else he’d be falling over from exhaustion. Some food had been provided in the box of belongings, though he still near famished. If he had to confront this entire dungeon of men without rest or food he would be even worse off than the impossible odds he was starting with.

There were eight guards in this particular chamber, though Kael had been expecting triple that number. Perhaps the majority of their forces were out preparing to assault Stormwind? That would be helpful for him here.

One approached Kael before all the others, thinking him just some random Elf who was trying something stupid. A fireball melting through his gut gave his comrades a good idea that Kael was not fooling around, him having prepared the magic as he struck the first man down.

All seven remaining people decided to rush him all at once, swords and blades drawn for six of them and a staff raised for the last, a woman with a blue glow of magical energy in her hand. She did not finish her spell though as a Mana Wyrm bit her hand and the glow disappeared, the Mana Wyrm seemingly taking the power for itself as it glowed right then as the hand ceased to.

Kael kicked the cart over against two of his assailants, crushing the legs of one and sending the other reeling. Not all of them seemed to be well trained, as Kael easily parried the first to reach him, though he supposed it made sense for a group of newly recruited folk who were formerly destitute and likely never held a sword before were quite unskilled at combat.

Kael did not have this problem, and with a strong heave he disarmed the man both by removing their sword and removing part of the limb that had held it. The man howled in pain as Kael grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him in the way of the others, and the cry of pain stopped as the man’s heart was.

The other Defias members removed their blades from their dead comrade right at the moment their spellcasting comrade called out to them, though only two of the remaining four standing by Kael looked back to see what was happening.

“Get the damn beast!” the woman Mage cried out as Nana assaulted her viciously and relentlessly, not going for any killing strikes but brutalizing the woman’s neck and up with strong slams and the occasional bite.

Kael tossed the dead Defias man in his hand over at the two not facing his way, and once it crashed into one of them that destabilized thug stumbled over into the other. They each fell down, but that left Kael with two left at the same time. He blocked the blade of one as the other brought their dagger right into his stomach.

The Prince fought the urge to verbalize his pain, for he was trying to focus on gathering up strength for a second fire attack. A second and third strike of the dagger into his flesh made him finally let out a growl of pain, though he was quite glad his leather armor was stopping a good deal of the weapon’s penetration.

He glanced over at the woman stabbing at him and smirked as her next strike was stopped midway. He had removed one of his hands from his two-handed weapon and had clasped it around her skinny arm. She gave him a confused look as he began to be forced back by her comrade, but after a moment Kael let go and she forced herself back.

Kael had learned this trick a bit ago, yet he had not had much of a chance to use it yet…now he was quite free to do it as Trixie was the one keeping him from trying out what he read.

The woman took a step back before noticing that her arm was glowing. She brought it up to her face as Kael went back to stopping her partner’s assault. By the time Kael got the strength back to push back the man he was in a power struggle with, the woman’s whole body had the same glow and then…boom.

The explosion was great enough to blast through and kill the man beside her as well as kill the person Kael had disorientated with the cart. Living Bomb was the name, and it was quite sinister…and effective.

No longer under direct threat, Kael looked over and noticed that the Mage had finally managed to knock Nana back for a moment and then sling a quick spell forward at the Wyrm. Nana let out a small pained noise as she dropped from the air and fell down, though she did not revert to a shimmering orb like Wyrms would when they were dead. The Mage had been on her back when she managed to free herself from the animal, though Kael made sure she never got up.

As Kael approached the smoldering Mage he noticed a shiny set of keys laying nearby one of the dead Defias members. He grabbed the keys and tossed them over to where the prisoners were cowering in fear, apparently each of them fearful that he would kill them. They were skinny things, weak from starvation and exhaustion, and likely weak before even those tragedies had been inflicted on them.

“Go. You’re free. I’m not going to harm you.”

They wouldn’t be helpful in a fight, not when they were quivering things with no strength behind them. It would be nice of them to offer to help him, but Kael wasn’t even sure he would accept it. Not when it would just get them killed.

“T-thank you, s-s-sir!” one of them choked out as they set about freeing everyone. Kael ignored them as he approached the wounded Mana Wyrm. Nana had kept him from being slain by magic, but the young Mana Wyrm was not quite capable of defeating a common Mage on their own. Not yet at least.

“Nana…”

The Mana Wyrm slowly lifted itself up to a few inches off the ground, but even then it was having trouble staying afloat. Kael took out a healing potion and poured a portion on its wound, restoring it to full health, before downing the remaining part of the bottle himself. Fortunately the red of his armor kept him from seeing just how much of his own blood was coloring his clothing.

He took a hand to the Wyrm and then looked back to the way they had come in, “You’re trained, so you can understand well what I am saying,” Nana moved as if to nod, but it was hard to really tell with the always moving pet, “Go back to where I found you. Run and don’t turn back.”

It understood, but hesitated. Kael had seen how fragile it was currently, and he was grateful for what it had done, but it would be of no further use. Not without dying, he had realized, and that was unacceptable. With a forced nod towards the exit Kael finally managed to get the pet to start doing as he ordered. He couldn’t afford to just carry it with him, and it wouldn’t be able to fight, so this was really his only option. He just hoped it would escape as he intended…

“Trixie would kill me if I let her pet die,” he whispered to himself as he watched it retreat from him, “This will get more difficult without the aid though…”

The Defias that had only been wounded were moaning and wailing, but Kael made sure to take the time to take care of them. Unfortunately for him this took long enough for a patrol of guards to come his way, with four Defias members looking around at the scene with differing looks of surprise and horror.

“What’s with all the noise over here?”

“Hey! Who the Hell are you?!”

“Damnit…” Kael cursed to himself as he noticed the newest group. They were about twenty feet down the corridor he had to go down to continue towards where the main cave was, where Trixie was most likely.

“Bastard! Think you can just come on in here and—”

Kael took the next trick out of his hat, a spell named Flamestrike, and a wave of fire scorched across the ground where the four Defias members had been standing. Doing this spell made Kael feel suddenly weak, as if he had been deprived completely of his magic, and he realized he had not been tending to his Elven mana addiction…though he thought it odd that this was the case, as it had not really bothered him until now. All that really changed was that Trixie was gone, but her absence surely couldn’t be causing him to feel the pain again, could it?

Two of the Defias managed to avoid the attack while the other two were roasted like turkeys for a feast, and these two proved far faster than the crowd Kael had just carved through.

One of them came at him with two blades, and while Kael managed to parry each of them with a well-placed block from his far larger sword, the man managed to slip one of the blades away from the stolen Stormwind sword and plant itself straight in Kael’s shoulder.

The other wasted no time and appeared behind Kael to stab him through the back of his leather armor. Kael got to see as the blade exited the front of him, and the sight was not all that pleasing. These two were undoubtedly two of the more senior and experienced members, and they also had him outnumbered while Kael was still recovering from his last bout.

“That hurts, damnit…”

In an unexpected move Kael lifted his broadsword upward and hit the chin of the man in front of him with his sword’s cross-guard, the removal of his parry causing a third blade to cut into his body. He dragged the blade across the man’s close throat, and using the slight momentum behind this swing he spun himself around and tore the blade impaling him from behind from the backstabber.

The backstabber jumped back just in time to avoid being cut down by the powerful blade Kael held, but the attack still grazed across the man’s gut and wounded him. The Defias guard pulled out a short blade from a sheath and charged at Kael, only to find himself impaled on a rapidly displaced blade from Kael.

Kael chuckled weakly to himself as he watched the man before him cough and fall to the ground, blood dribbling from beneath their red bandana. Kael had used his spare hand to rip one of the swords impaling him out, and by charging forth just as his opponent had he had caught the man off-guard: the Defias man had expected the heavily wounded Kael to stand his ground rather than surge forward.

“Least these potions are taking the edge off…”

Kael sighed as he healed himself with the majority of his remaining potions. His grievous wounds would not heal themselves after all, though he was grateful no magic had struck him yet. He had a feeling that would be harder to power through and tank.

“Mine quicker!”

Once he was done recovering, Kael hid against a sloped wall as he heard the voice yelling further down in the corridor. He was still winded and he did not want to risk himself when he could ambush whoever it was with a moment of planning.

The voice held a cruel intonation, and the crack of a whip made the person’s voice seem all the worse. They were forcing prisoners to mine for them…better than killing their prisoners, but still anything but kind.

“I said,” another crack of the whip, and with enough edging in their direction Kael could finally see them without being easily noticed, “Mine quicker!

The one being whipped was someone in the silver and blue armor of Stormwind, though it was torn and damaged to the point where it ceased to be actual protection and armor. The prisoner was worn ragged and Kael was actually thankful their helmet was concealing their face: the metal was likely hiding the man’s pained expression that would match the crimson red running down his back.

Across from him was one of the Defias thugs who stood with whip in hand, ready to strike yet again moments after the last. Another similar man was beside him, and they had their own duplicate prisoner. Two Stormwind soldiers, new to the scene by the looks of it, who hadn’t even been stripped of their ragged armor before being forced to work.

With the crack of a whip one of the prisoners cried in pain, though they said nothing as their torturer and guard scoffed at their pain, “You have such bad luck! You will regret not being killed in battle!

“What do you mean?” the first prisoner gasped in-between swings of his pickaxe. His body was littered with other wounds, indicative of a recent struggle he had lost before being brought here.

Another scoff, followed by another lash, “You really believe you can live comfortably down here? Our boss, VanCleef, will work you to death down here. Just as you damn 'noble' knights deserve!"

The two guards, who Kael recognized as the poor folk he had spoken to at Sentinel Hill, the two he cast a blind eye to as they spoke of joining the Defias. That said, he had warned them that he would not forgive them should they join the Defias and do ill deeds, for Kael’s sympathies ended at taking down those at fault for the inequities and problems they faced. They were torturing two normal soldiers and enjoying it, soldiers who likely had nothing at all to do with what happened to them and to the Defias.

Even Vanessa seemed remorseful about what she had done, and she was leading them. But with such rapid recruitment of so many people, perhaps the matter had gone by with focus on quantity over quality.

As Kael pondered ways to go about killing the two sadistic men and freeing the prisoners, the prisoner who had yet to speak spun around and began to rush at his captor in a split moment the man had taken to look at his compatriot.

A sword was pulled out, and the rush ended as the captive stopped right in front of the outstretched sword held at him. He wouldn’t have been able to reach much farther due to his chains, but he could of at least swung at his tormentor, as futile as it might be.

Kael admired the resolve, but cursed the action. If the man had bided his time a few moments longer Kael could have made his strike, but now the guards were fully alert and the one who hadn’t been assaulted was even looking around.

"Ooops..." the Stormwind captive spoke for the first time, and even then it was weak. His voice sounded like his throat had been hurt, though it was not possible to see the damage he had received to it due to his armor.

The soldier stepped back away from the sword, but the other took a step forward. His hands were cuffed together, but he had a pickaxe he was willing to swing. His bound legs and his bound hands would make an actual fight completely one-sided, but the man was standing with pride as he faced down the Defias duo.

"You want to work us to death? I won't let you humiliate us anymore!"

He took a swing, but the guard swung their sword hard into the side of the man’s only intact piece of armor on his abdomen. The result knocked the proud soldier back a few feet, but it did not take him off his feet. The impact did enough to wind the already wounded soldier though, and he didn’t surge back forward to face his foe again.

"Oh, feisty feisty. It's the worst kind of prisoner, but the best kind of worker. You’ll be good at digging holes until you have to dig your own."

The soldier slowly took a step back forward, to the utter amusement of the two tormentors, "If you want to kill me, kill me now."

"I won't let him!"

Kael watched as the body of one Defias member was flung onto the ground right beside the farther thug. The two men and their captives all looked further down the corridor to where a blonde man in nothing but weathered green pants emerged with a spear in hand. His bare chest revealed that he had once been muscular, but was severely weakened from starvation. Even still he had knocked the now dead Defias member flying far enough to surprise the two guards with his sudden entry through a door beyond them.

As the new entry to the conflict twirled his weapon around and flung blood from its steel shaft, the guard who had been speaking the most rushed to confront the free prisoner. The ragged man ended up levying his spear in their direction, though given the spear’s greater reach than the guard’s sword the guard stopped before he impaled himself on the larger weapon. The attention diverted from them, the prisoners moved away from the soon to-be fight between two guards and this newcomer.

"Sir Lavitz!" the Stormwind soldiers called out, their previously worn and tired voices revitalized at the sight of an ally.

The guard who had approached Lavitz felt comfortable in the fact his opponent was starved, and thus barely standing, but even still he was not so foolish as to approach the man as Lavitz stood ready to fight, "You...you bastard!? You broke out of your chains again!?"

He used a moment of slight staggering on the part of the starved man to rush in and slash at the half-naked soldier, but even in his state Lavitz brought his acquired spear up to block the overhead sword strike.

"Idiot, you think you can escape from here alone!?" the guard grunted as he tried to force down through the spear and cut the man blocking with it. His partner was keeping his eyes on the other two prisoners and as such had no ability to assist his comrade.

"I'll take care of this!” Lavitz yelled as he began to slide his spear down in a way that deflected his foe’s sword to the ground. Hearing his words seemed to inspire the two others, as the more silent one knocked over the guard by them with a throw of a pickaxe while the other smashed their chains with his own pickaxe aided by respectable strength and broke the metal links crudely.

Lavitz finished moving his spear down and knocked his opponent’s weapon to the ground, quickly following it up with a quick jab through the man’s gut, “Survive and go back to Stormwind alive! Tell the King—"

Kael moved to approach the escapees as a friend, but they rushed right past him and went on up the corridor he had come down. He opened his mouth to call to them that there were still more guards up there and that they were in danger so long as they were tied up, but the words never got to his lips: a Defias member Kael had gotten past without killing quickly murdered each of the would be escapees.

"I took care of those guys!" The guard who did it actually ran past Kael’s hiding place to go and approach his other ally, who had begun to engage Lavitz in combat.

Kael cursed himself for not acting sooner, having felt torn between helping people he considered his enemies fight his current enemies, but this was not a time for indecision. His body might ache and his mind might complain, but this was his chance to break in as a powerful soldier broke out.

"So this is rebellion..." On both ends, Kael mused, as he moved to join the fray. The rebels were facing a rebellion of their own in the form of an escaped prisoner.

Lavitz sidestepped his opponent and ran them through with his spear before they could correct their mistake, and while seemingly winded and strained he wasted no time before rushing at the newest foe to come his way. The two cautiously looked eachother over as Lavitz held the greater reach, but a misstep would get him killed even so.

Kael would have cut down the Defias member from behind if he himself was not assaulted from behind, although not without the warning of footsteps. Kael spun around as he lunged out of the way, bringing his own sword to bear as he parried the next strike.

"You! Who are you!? Are you a dog of Stormwind too!?" the fourth guard growled to him as they took a step forward and swung down with fervor in the hopes of cutting Kael down even as they asked him his identity.

Kael did not oblige them, instead letting their sword sail just by him. He used this time to swung the handle of his sword into their head, following through the swing arc to cut through the man’s neck. Now was not the time for mercy.

This left Kael free to once again aid and get to the escaping prisoner. Said prisoner was rapidly stabbing at his own opponent right then, barely being parried as the Defias member was slowly forced back and back into a corner, at which point a spear thrust caught him straight through the throat.

A man came rushing from the way Lavitz had come, one of likely a multitude of guards sent after him, and the Defias man managed to hit Lavitz hard enough to make him stumble. Despite this Lavitz swung his spear and knocked the man off his feet with such strength that Kael was quite sure he heard the man’s neck snap.

Seeing the red of Kael’s armor and associating it with the Defias, Lavitz’s next attack was straight at the man trying to help him.

"Who are you!?" Lavitz yelled as he charged Kael, his words finishing just as Kael managed to barely block the spear being shoved his way. The situation devolved into a struggle between the spear’s shaft and Kael’s blade, each man pushing and trying to gain power over the other.

As Kael did his best to hold his own against the knight he managed to speak a bit, "My name is Kael—” he was losing ground, for the starved man actually possessed even greater strength than what Kael possessed. He feared just how powerful the man had been before he had been deprived of sufficient nutrients to maintain his original physique.

Nearly losing the struggle, Kael focused his attention on finishing his statement so that there would be no need for conflict. This was not the battle he needed to be waging, and he did not want to waste energy on someone who was not a foe, “I am not your enemy!"

Quickly assessing that he was fighting an Elf, a race not known to be joined with the Westfall bandits, Lavitz backed off and put a good few feet between them. The man dropped his spear to a passive position, its point facing directly up at the ceiling as he looked over Kael with interest.

"I am Lavitz Slambert! I am the captain and head of Stormwind's first Knighthood."

That certainly explained why the man was so capable, if he was in charge of such a prestigious group. This was quite the fortunate turn of events, actually, for Kael had not expected any help and now this man had killed a good deal of guards. On the other hand, he had caused a conflict of his own and was going to draw attention to them.

More guards came from both ends of the hallway, one approaching Kael from his side and another approaching Lavitz from his own.

"Well, it seems we don't have time for introductions!" Lavitz spoke as he spun around and faced his own opponent. Kael took a step back and their backs met as they stared down their newest enemies.

"It seems we do not…” Kael replied with annoyance, though it wasn’t directed at his ally of opportunity. There were simply too many opponents for either one of them to succeed on their own…but for the moment their goals were aligned: survive.

Trixie was trudging along slowly as she tried to listen to the yells and battle going on beyond the shipyard and up the cave. The echoing of it all was soon cut out after a thick door sealed and was secured to the mouth of the corridor where the racket all was originating. After Foe Reaper 9000 had been sent to go help the others as extra insurance, the Defias decided to play things safe and lock everything down until things quieted. Before it closed though, Trixie could swear it sounded like more than just one person fighting all the Defias members…

Ripsnarl had been assigned to look after Trixie and bring her back to her room, specifically ordered to make sure she did not escape again under any circumstances, and he noted her slow pace with some frustration.

“Come on, princess, pick up the pace. You won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, so go back to being a good prisoner, okay? I’d hate to have to render you incapable of moving to get the point across.”

Princess…that word struck a cord in Trixie.

Had she been a princess? Something told her no…but something else made it sound possible. Maybe she had known a princess?

Princess, princess, princess…yes, that was most definitely ringing a bell. Prince? Well, Kael, obviously, but she felt like there was at least another she could recall…

The inane chatter of somepony, the annoying voice, smug attitude, pampered white fur, a need to belittle all others—oh how just the thought of this phantom equine being made Trixie want to hit them, strangle them, do anything to get them away because the more they weighed in on her mind the more a headache began to form in her head. Who was this person, why did they cause this reaction in her?

“How about it? Would you like to be just like your whore of a mother? I can add you to my list of consorts. Plenty of mares here in Canterlot are willing to do anything for a few bits, not to mention social status…”

That voice, that pony…Trixie balled up her fists and clenched her teeth in anger. Oh what she’d do to just make them stop! Words beyond her comprehension continued, but the overall feeling of the memory continued to play on.

“SHUT UP”

That voice was her own, Trixie realized, right at the same time the final piece of the memory washed over her.

Ripsnarl spun to face Trixie as he heard her fall to her knees, “Are you alright? Ms. Lulamoon?”

Trixie was blankly staring ahead as she remained on her knees. She had a feeling in that last bit of what she could recall. She could remember something in distinct detail, and if she was not so frozen by the thought she would be physically sick.

She felt as if she had killed someone, and she felt that she had done it in recent history.

What had she done that led her to this suddenly foreign, strange place?

Trixie only hoped these were false memories, figments of an overactive imagination…but in her heart she knew there was some truth to it all. Perhaps she would find the truth to it all when she was freed, but for now she was left with the haunting thought that she was no better than the people she found herself surrounded by.

Kael had to hand it to the Stormwind for once: they had created a damn good soldier. Lavitz had suited up with some armor laying about and while it was nowhere near as good as a full suit of it, he was no longer bare to the blades he would be confronting.

Of course, before armoring up the man had managed to stave off the first few attackers with Kael at his back and doing the same. After saving eachother from the initial surge of Defias members, Lavitz had armored himself more and Kael had granted him a potion to heal with. The Stormwind soldier had more than earned it, and Kael honestly felt like the man could use something in his stomach.

This done, Lavitz approached his two fallen comrades and knelt down beside them. Kael did not interrupt the man as he instead stood guard, though to his pleasure no more Defias showed up. They didn’t seem to be all that organized, which Kael took as a sign of fortune and logic: they had recently swelled their ranks considerably, of course they didn’t have a well oiled machine going in terms of organization. It was probably only a few souls a few weeks back, and now it was dozens if not hundreds.

"I will bring word of your bravery home,” Lavitz stood up and looked to Kael, “You said your name is Kael. Common Elf name, right?” Kael nodded, not sure how much he wanted to reveal just yet. Accepting this basic response, Lavitz continued, “I cannot imagine why somebody, especially someone who isn’t a Human, would intentionally assault the Defias. What are you up to?"

He had lowered his weapon, so it wasn’t a frightful inquisition. Just genuine curiosity from a man who ought to be using this time to escape. The fact that the Human was standing a few feet before him still baffled Kael. Didn’t this man want to make a break for Stormwind a moment ago?

About this matter, Kael thought he could at least speak truly. Why he was there was not something sinister or bad after all: he came to save his only real companion and friend.

Kael averted his eyes to the ground as he spoke, the thought of Trixie being harmed making him equal parts furious and depressed, "I am here to rescue someone important to me. Do you know anything about her? Her name is Trixie."

Lavitz took a hand to his chin and thought for a moment, even turning away slightly as he became lost in thought. After a moment of this though he hung his head and shook it negatively. He didn’t know anything.

"I am sorry, but...."

Kael sighed, not knowing why he’d expect a prisoner nearly killed through starvation to know what was happening in the dungeon. He held up a hand to silence the sorrow of the sympathetic Human, "It is fine. I will continue looking.”

With that, Kael moved to go the way Lavitz had come from, but before he could even take two steps he heard the rustle of armor and a hand clasped down on his shoulder.

"Wait! I'll go with you," Lavitz stated, pointing to himself with one finger. His pale face and blonde hair were worn and dirtied by his time in the Deadmines, but he seemed quite resolute nonetheless.

An offer to help, from a Human Kael didn’t even know? They were surely fire forged comrades a moment ago, but the immediate threat was gone. Why would a man with nothing to gain want to help him, especially since he had almost gained the freedom he had fought for?

Kael turned to face the man as curiosity crept into his own voice this time, "I thought you had to go back to Stormwind as soon as possible?"

Lavitz lowered his arms to being placed on his hips. He was looking over the sullen expression Kael held ever since bringing up his reason for being in the Deadmines, and in a moment Lavitz could tell that he was looking at a man who was in pain due to the loss of a loved one.

"She's important, this girl you are looking for?"

Kael could hear the sympathy in the man’s voice, and it actually surprised him. He didn’t expect some Human from Stormwind to take pity on him, not after everything he had heard about the city. But, much like the Saldeans, this man was quite abnormal in that regard…he had a heart and soul. He had empathy, so much so that after weeks of physical torture and pain he was willing to lend help to someone he never met before.

The purity of the soldier’s offer actually unnerved Kael, who did not think of himself as really selfish or petty before coming face to face with the ideal knights ought to look to for both strength and kindness, "It's my problem. It was my fault, so you need not concern yourself with it. You have your duty to carry out."

Lavitz took a step and then turned so he was horizontal with Kael, allowing him to place a comforting hand on his shoulder while his own eyes looked to the dead bodies of the other Stormwind soldiers, "I don't know what brought you here but this place is not that easy to go through alone."

Kael did not respond, though he understood what the knight was saying. He needed the help, even if it felt weird from a Human he just met.

The soldier lowered his hand so he could cross his arms, only to then turn and look at Kael with his arms unfolded, "That goes for me too. I can break out from here together with you!” he paused before laughing a little, “Of course, with the girl."

"I am flattered you do, but how come you trust me?” Kael questioned, unsure if the man was naïve or if he was perceptive. One might get them both killed, one might save their lives.

"The raid you made was quite impressive to have come this far alone. Because of that I trusted you to guard my back, and you did. The way I see it you’re earned my trust.”

That finalized Kael’s decision. He could use a skilled Warrior on his side, even if it was temporary compared to his arrangement with Trixie, "All right. Let's go together."

“You two are the ones doing all this?”

“We gonna kill you!”

Approaching them now was a lumbering giant humanoid being with sickly yellow skin. It had two heads, and neither looked happy.

Despite the new challenge in their shared path now, Lavitz smiled as he placed himself in front of Kael and began to approach the lumbering being.

“I bet you can cast some magic,” he spoke softly to Kael, “I’ll draw his attention, you do what you can to hurt him.”

That was a plan Kael could get behind, because his own entire body looked to be a little bit bigger than just one of this being’s arms.

Lavitz took a sword blow shirtless, surely in armor he could tank a hulking being, right?

Whether he could or not would soon be tested as Lavitz charged forth and prepared to assault the far larger humanoid. As he did this Kael prepared his fire spells, and the battle began once more.

Author's Note

A/N: Introducing party member 3, Lavitz Slambert, Warrior tank with slight Monk influences. Lavitz was my favorite playable character in my favorite game ever "Legend of the Dragoon", and while playing as my Trixie character I ran into a player who was pretending to be Lavitz, so here we are! Was wondering what I should use as a tank, and I found one in-game that was already a character I love! Poor Kael can't tough out every hit after all, especially since he's only facing normal people right now and is overwhelmed.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed and will let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Your comments last chapter really helped me out and made me update this right away, so I hope to keep hearing from you guys!

Level 18: At The Bottom Of The Deadmines

A/N: Special thanks to SilentMech, Amethyst Blade, refferee, GamerGoddessDin, nioniosbbbb, the alicorn huntard, Freya, and yoshizawesome for your comments last chapter, they really helped me out and if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have been able to update so swiftly given how large this is! Thank you again, and I hope to continue hearing from you guys.

On a side note, special thanks to whoever wrote the the various things I am referencing this chapter, as I am referencing your work just like Blizzard likes doing their own references. And by that, I mean Blizzard and I rip something off, change the dialogue a bit, and then laugh as we amuse ourselves with in-jokes few will get.

Hope you all enjoy, and I look forward to hearing from you all after we finish our first dungeon!

“Glub’tok show you da power of da arcane!”

So the two headed behemoth was named Glub’tok, and it seemed to be channeling magic in its palms as it stood in the center of what appeared to be a storage room of sorts, with barrels on the far side and a mine cart rail running up to a door that sat closed on the far side.

The large being, known as an Ogre to the more experienced Lavitz, finished channeling its magic just before the knight of Stormwind reached him. From its fists launched a torrent of flame much like what Kael was capable of using, albeit with a far greater spread and, from how Kael could feel it from halfway across the room, greater heat.

“Fists of flame!”

Lavitz dodged it by getting closer and simply moving slightly to the side of where the flames originated. In doing so Glub’tok was left open to a thrust of the knight’s spear, and when it buried itself in the behemoth’s burgeoning gut Glub’tok let out a guttural scream of pain.

Not about to let this moment of opportunity pass, Kael used what little magical energy he had to launch his own fiery magic at Glub’tok. This attack made the shirtless being stumble back in pain, but it did not prevent it from once again charging up its magic even as Lavitz began hacking away at its unarmored body.

“Glub’tok ready!” the first head spoke as another ball of fire magic formed in its hand.

As expected, the attention of the beast was focused on the closest enemy, Lavitz, but Kael noticed that the man was not the fastest. Would he be able to avoid this second scorching blast? From a distance and without mana Kael was left useless for the moment, so he could only watch as Glub’tok’s second head spoke up.

“Let’s do it!”

Surely enough the fire magic was thrown straight down, right into the lumbering Lavitz. The knight may have a high level of strength and skill, but whether it be natural or caused by his starvation, he was not quick enough to move out of the way. The fire struck him and knocked the man off his feet, the fire overwhelming him as it carried him back.

“S’ploded dat one!” the second head of Glub’tok proudly stated as Lavitz fell from the fire, making Kael realize that even armor could not resist magic…and while his comrade was quite stalwart, he was not well suited to taking hits from magic.

Despite this, even overwhelmed by the magical fire still rushing past him and burning his skin and armor, Lavitz slowly stood up and got to his knees. The magic ended with Glub’tok realizing that his foe was not actually dead, and while the knight’s blonde hair was a little burnt he was still resisting the urge to collapse as he slowly lifted his spear from by his side to perpendicular position to the ground, allowing him to use it to stand up.

This stamina seemed to amuse Glub’tok, but it did not give the Ogre any pity for his foe. He held up a hand again while his second head began to chant.

“Fist of froooost!”

Magic similar to what Trixie harnessed formed in the Ogre’s palms, but the attack never finished as a two-handed blade embedded itself in one palm. Glub’tok’s magic did not fizzle out but rather it exploded where his hand was pierced, and the Ogre recoiled from the attack as he realized that by focusing on Lavitz so much that he had forgotten about his second foe.

Kael ripped the blade out and went on the offensive, swinging at Glub’tok to force the Ogre back even further. This interrupted the rest of the spellcasting, and it would be the last spell Glub’tok would have the chance to fully use in the encounter as Lavitz picked up on Kael’s lead and hurled his spear straight into the second open palm of the Ogre.

Glub’tok ripped the spear out of his hand in a fury before throwing his hands to either side of him and pointing the palms up at the ceiling, energy coursing all around him. Kael actually jumped back as a wall of flame surrounded the Ogre, unsure what to do since he had no mana to attack at range and fighting inside of fire would be suicidal.

Fortunately, he would not have to solve that issue, for as Glub’tok’s power began to surge around him in the form of lightning leaving the tips of his fingers, he began to float…and the power began to go crazy. His hands, the conduits of his magic, were damaged, and he could not control his own power.

“TOOOO! MUUUUUUCH! POOOOOWERRRR!”

The lightning swirled around him faster and faster until it suddenly changed course and went inwards, flowing into his body and electrocuting the Ogre with his own power. After a moment of this he fell to the ground and collapsed, though he noticeably was not dead given the small movements of his chest. He wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon though.

Kael helped his partner to his feet, grateful for not being the one struck by such powerful magic that ought to have outright killed a normal man, and let him drink some of the last healing potion to recover from the ordeal.

Kael walked past Glub’tok and to the far door while Lavitz moved to retrieve his discarded spear, “Leave him. He is defeated, and I did not come here with the intent of taking any more lives than I have to.”

Lavitz smirked, approving the well natured display while also noting that it could haunt them later, “Very well. I only hope this won’t come back to bite us later. The Defias are a hardy bunch.”

“We beat him once, we can do so again. For all his power he was quite unskilled,” Kael reasoned. And perhaps the next time he would have the mana required to cast his magic, rather than idly watch for a moment.

Still, it did not help Kael from realizing too that taking the merciful path might not be the intelligent one…but it is what Trixie would want, if at all possible, and he was doing this all for her, so he may as well try and abide by her code this once. He had killed the others, but back then he had no choice. Now he had a skilled Warrior at his side and things would not be quite as difficult.

Lavitz nodded as he moved to the door, which Kael had pulled open given that it had not been locked since its last usage, “Holding back on her account I presume?”

Kael gave the Human a confused look, but Lavitz held a hand up to silence him before Kael could lie, “I’ve seen that look on a soldier’s face before. Usually at diplomatic meetings and the like. The ‘I want to do the pragmatic thing and kill the person, but something is keeping me from doing it’ look.”

“You are perceptive for a warrior—”

“Damnit, you beat Glubtok?!”

The two men looked over across the cavern hallway they were in to see that on top of a pinkish-fat being that was different than the Ogre sat a small, yellow-green being known as a Goblin known to those of the Deadmines as Helix Gearbreaker.

The fat-pink thing known as a Hobgoblin dully looked at them as the being riding on its back shook its head and pulled something out of its pocket.

“You know what? The Mistress will pay me handsomely for your heads! BOMBS AWAY!”

Kael saw the bomb being thrown at him as it sailed across the room, and he barely managed to dive out of its way when it went off. Lavitz was already ahead of him and charged straight at the Hobgoblin, who was armed with two clawed gauntlets.

Kael forced himself to muster up another spell and flung it at the Hobgoblin just before Lavitz impaled it straight through the gut, not wasting a moment when faced with a giant creature capable of crushing a man in its bare hands even without magic powered gauntlets like it had.

Unfortunately, the dumb being seemed to not notice the massive pain it was in just yet and grabbed Lavitz by the shoulder.

“Ready Oafy? Throw!” Helix yelled, and the Hobgoblin listened. It took Lavitz’s smaller frame and hurled it against the far wall with such strength that it caused stones to fall from the ceiling and for Lavitz to become embedded in the soft soil he had struck.

This did not stun the Warrior for long, as while Kael approached to slash at the Hobgoblin Lavitz once again rushed forth and impaled the beast a second time, though he followed it up by ripping the spear out of the gut and then slashing it straight across the beast’s body.

Sparing when possible was one thing, but they could only do so much.

The Hobgoblin roared in pain as it swerved back and forth, its innards torn open by the seemingly practiced spear-play, and Helix had to jump off to avoid being crushed by the creature as in its death throes it slammed backwards into the carven wall.

Kael managed to bat away a quick bomb thrown at them by Helix, but the Goblin proved quicker than either of them as it recovered from its fall and ran right at each of them.

“Ahhh, I didn’t need him!” hurtling himself on Lavitz, Helix yelled, “Not when I’ve got you oafs!”

In armor Lavitz was not able to maneuver well enough to actually grab the small being gripping his abdomen, especially after Helix flipped himself over onto Lavitz’s back and pulled out a dagger to impale him. This failed as Lavitz twisted his body around and nearly flung Helix off, causing the strike to miss, but also placing Helix out of the range of Kael, since Lavitiz’s back was no longer facing him.

“Turn!” Kael yelled, and fortunately the command was understood by his ally, as Lavitz spun around again to leave Helix in the direction of Kael. Helix’s next swing of his knife embedded itself in the collarbone of Lavitz, but the knight ignored the pain as Kael smashed the Goblin off of him with a strong swing of the sword.

“Damn…that was close,” Lavitz chuckled nervously as Helix crashed into the wall nearby his former mount. Kael sighed, once again glad that he was not doing this alone, as he was quite sure either Glub’tok or Helix could have taken him alone.

“The scaaaales…have…tipped…” Helix groaned before collapsing, the sword’s blow having struck the small being hard enough to deprive him on consciousness. His small body did not have the constitution required to tank hits like the study Lavitz could, who had a broad body that helped demonstrate the difference between a Human body and an Elvish one: he had a far broader chest and while he was a couple inches shorter than Kael, he appeared far more muscular even despite his starvation.

Once again free to take in a breath and not worry about fighting right away, Lavitz began to do some basic stretches to help out his jammed joints. Kael was growing more and more impressed by the man’s fortitude that he did not even ask for what little was left of their healing supplies, despite having a wound on his upper body right by the neck. Sure, Helix had not plunged the knife in too far, but Kael had to admire the resolve this man displayed.

“You know, when I get out of here, I can’t wait to go home. My mother must be worried sick…”

Kael smirked, glad internally that Lavitz wasn’t only a muscle-bound fool, “A mother’s boy, then?”

That earned another set of laughter from the soldier, “Unapologetically. Seeing her again will make up for all of this pain,” he brought a hand up to his chin as he finished the last of the stretches he felt he had to do, “I wonder if my tree will be in season when I get back? It’s been so long…”

“Your tree?”

“A gift from a traveling friend from another land. His people have these beautiful trees known as cherry blossoms. I personally had always liked roses, but the beauty of the cherry blossom is like no other.”

So there really was more to the man than first expected. He certainly was more like the Saldeans than the other Humans, that was for sure, “Sentimental, for a soldier. I suppose one would have to be to survive in these conditions,” Kael patted his partner on the back before nodding to the path ahead, “As well as plenty strong. Stormwind must be honored to have knights of such caliber.”

Lavitz did not follow at first, instead just nodding as he observed Kael, “And Silvermoon must be honored to have someone so brave and capable in their ranks. It is a shame that our people are at conflict currently.”

That made Kael pause in his tracks. So he had given himself away already? “You take me for a Blood Elf?”

“A High Elf wouldn’t be around these parts without good reason, and the Defias have some associates up north. They are intending to establish a northern branch where they can requisition supplies without Stormwind breathing down their necks,” Lavitz pointed to Kael’s face, “Your eyes also are a giveaway. Green is my favorite color, so of course I can remember that the only Elves who have green eyes are the Blood Elves, because of the fel magic you draw strength from.”

Despite revealing Kael as an enemy of his nation, Lavitz then moved forward to continue down the path as they intended to: he gave no sign of actually caring that Kael was an enemy of Stormwind, not an ally.

This made Kael stop in his tracks this time as his partner got ahead of him, “And our opposed allegiances does not frighten you? What if I were to betray you?”

Lavitz shrugged as he continued to look ahead, “You are fighting through impossible odds to save the woman you love. I don’t take you for an ignoble person, nor do I have any true animosity towards your race. Kael’thas and those like him are not the scourge of this land, but rather those as blind as Garithos.”

His voice had grown angry at the end, but Kael did not want to press the issue. If the man hated racists such as Garithos, then so be it.

Oh, and then there was the way Lavitz described Trixie.

“She is my partner. I am obligated to find her. There need not be any romantic connotations to our relationship, nor are there.”

That received an amused snort as they worked their way down the dark hallway, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” he paused when the sight of some soldiers caught his eye further down the hallway, “Now, do you think they’re really keeping her down there? It’s not generally where they keep their prisoners except in special circumstances.”

“She can teleport and they seem to have a special interest in her. They are likely keeping a close eye on her.”

“Well then, lets handle this crowd. I’m rested enough to fight again.”

“Watch your back, and be careful out there!”

Trixie was begrudgingly sitting in her room as she listened to the sound of dozens of people rush by outside and leave to who knows where. She already had a plan to get out, but she wanted to be sure there were less people around for when she did it. They apparently were heading out to quell the riot or whatever, and that meant less guards for her…

That still left Ripsnarl though, who was the one telling his comrades to be safe. He seemed actually worried about them for whatever reason, though how bad could it be? This was their own base after all. They ought to be fine with a few prisoners breaking loose.

Once the footsteps died down, Trixie strolled over to the wall that the door was attached to. He pressed an ear against it and listened further, and with her heightened senses she confirmed that only Ripsnarl was outside. He was not even right by the door, but rather by a spot she had noticed on the way in that was flat in the middle of the boat, being the main deck and all.

If she was going to succeed in escaping, it was now or never. Trixie took a breathe in as she froze the wood of the wall and then with a mighty heave leveled the entire structure right up to where the door was. Having burst through it, she threw down a sheet of ice on the pathway between her and the werewolf-man-thing named Ripsnarl.

The man turned to face her with glowing eyes, and his furred face did not appear at all pleased by her actions, “Mmmmm…are you trying to make me angry?” he bared his claws and glared at Trixie, who had spent the moment looking over the side of the boat at everything else on that side of the cavern, “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

There were still many people in the chamber, but the others were all headed towards the way Glub’tok and Helix had gone earlier. They wouldn’t interfere, but Trixie doubted she could leave before dealing with Ripsnarl…so she would fight him.

Trixie dashed towards the ice and purposefully slid on it towards her jailor, hurling a quick blast of frost magic at him as she did so. He casually avoided it as Trixie arrived at the main deck, all the while seeming more annoyed than worried about her escape.

“I grow tired of this. Get back in your cell and I will curb your punishment.”

In an attempt to appear tough, Trixie did not speak a word as she stared him down. She held a hand out to form another spell in her hand, but by the time she moved the limb she was gasping in pain as thick teeth buried into the flesh of it.

She growled before grabbing Ripsnarl by the head and tossing him back, surprising him with her strength but not revealing the full extent of it with her action. As he steadied himself from her counterattack he licked his lips, “Your blood only increases my hunger!”

As if he was never there, Ripsnarl once again disappeared in a flash, though this time he did not instantly assault Trixie. Scared he might attack her at any moment, Trixie began looking around the deck to catch sight of him, but it was to little avail. She caught a flash of him, but then he was gone again.

While looking across the deck though she caught sight of something that her brain told her to grab: a whip. She rushed over to it as the air around her began to thicken into a light fog, causing the chill going down her back to worsen.

“Do you feel that chill running up your spine?” the seemingly disembodied voice of Ripsnarl taunted, “The fog is rolling in…”

The fog reached the point that it was hard for Trixie to even see her own hands, and she had to admit that even if she wanted to just turn tail and run now she wouldn’t really be able to see where she was going.

She turned so her back was to an open cabin of sorts that was next to her former room, and she reasoned that it would narrow down the directions from which he could strike her.

“I can smell your fear!”

While correct, she had not expected him to leap down from the top of the cabin, bite into her shoulder, grab her in the same movement, and then flip around so as to toss her across the deck into the open.

Trixie halted her tumbling across the deck by freezing one hand in place on the deck, which she followed up with another quick magic attack aimed at where she had just been attacked.

When she heard it hit the cabin, she knew she had failed to even harm him. She was bleeding down her shirt at the moment, but not too harshly since Ripsnarl seemed to be sparing her any lethal damage. After all, they needed her in decent enough condition…

A animalistic howl made Trixie’s ears perk up, and she tossed another magic attack out at where Ripsnarl ought to be given the noise. Sadly it was too late, and the attack sailed off the deck, not that she could even see that far.

“Come out and stop hiding, Ripsnarl!”

Perhaps taunting him would work. Acknowledging her own faults, Trixie could admit being taunted or humiliated might make her go and do something stupid…like fight an Ursa, or challenge someone to a petty competition based on wounded ego and pride…

While unable to see him, the moment Trixie heard a gust of wind she unleashed one of her more versatile techniques. Since Ripsnarl’s speed was so great, him moving to attack her had its own cue with the way the air around them shifted.

“Frie’zudo!”

A circle of ice blasted outward from Trixie’s position, the attack not having a true target but instead hitting in every direction around her. This had the effect of catching Ripsnarl straight in the chest and freezing him in place as ice enveloped a good portion of his body.

Able to hear where the attack struck, Trixie spun around and tossed an Ice Lance straight at the frozen wolf. The attack struck home and when it shattered the ice surrounding him it not only knocked him back, but also pierced his skin. She heard his hat fall to the ground as he used his new freedom to disappear into the mists once again.

“That trick won’t work twice, little girl!”

Trixie smirked, glad that she had outsmarted him this time around. Now, for her next trick…

Trixie pulled her hand holding the whip up to her face. Yes, she could do something with this…

Ripsnarl slashed at her back and disappeared before Trixie could counterattack, but she had already remembered the permutations she had read in her spellbook about her spells. Ways to use them differently, creatively, that she did not really have cause to use until then given their…limited nature.

Trixie slammed her hands onto the ground as Ripsnarl rushed away, shouting once again.

“Frie’zudo!”

Instead of channeling it out and around her, she cast it in a focused form. It left her palms and rushed across the floor of the deck at the nearest other living creature: Ripsnarl.

Trixie smirked as she heard it tear across the deck and as she heard him run away from its rapid approach, for the ice was not just slick and smooth, it was thick and jagged and looked threatening as it chased after the stealthed Wolf.

“How—that’s impossible!”

Trixie lifted the whip and began to spin it around her at increasing speed. A normal mage might not be able to creatively use their magic, or even learn how to expand upon its basic traits, but she was not like them. She prided herself on her masterful usage of magic, even the most basic forms of it, and now that she was using newer spells did not change that very innate part of her.

She was the Great and Powerful Trixie, and she would be damned if she let some bandits make a fool of her.

Judging on where she could hear the ice chasing after Ripsnarl, Trixie lashed out a fair bit ahead of it with her acquired weapon and it struck home. She felt it catch around his upper body and slow him down enough just in time for the ice to catch up to the man. With his legs suddenly frozen in place and a whip around his shoulders and neck, Trixie was in control of the situation all of a sudden.

“You guys might not be evil, but you sure as hell are pissing me off!”

She yanked on the whip with the strength of a horse, and Ripsnarl was torn from his icey trap and pulled straight to her, just in time for Trixie to pull back and then slam forward a fist right at his face. The strength was so great that she heard his jaw dislocate under her power, and his momentum towards her was suddenly shifted in the other direction.

He shouldn’t have put on the kids gloves in an attempt to wear her down, for it was only by giving her a moment to think that Trixie came out ahead. The fog died down as he collapsed down on the deck, his own magic being all that was keeping it up, and his concentration was more than shattered given the sudden pain he was in.

For her second spell permutation, she modified her normal “Frostbolt” to a more concentrated form that did not sail across the air, but rather struck from below. Less accurate since it came from the ground, but being impaled by icy spikes from below was certainly more painful than being hit by a large chunk of ice in the air.

“Gikor garu’da!”

The ice erupted beneath where Ripsnarl had fell, and it shred at him in a non-lethal fashion. His arms and legs were cut into but his abdomen and head were spared, leaving him weak and unable to rise to his feet right then as Trixie approached him, whip in hand.

“Where is your leader?” She acted as if she would use the whip on him, but that was too barbaric. Hopefully he would just give up the information, since Trixie was quite interested in finding out why she was being targeted…and in finding out how to leave this place, for she doubted Ripsnarl would be able to give directions in his current state.

“You will not…find her…until it is too late…”

With that, Ripsnarl collapsed with a content look on his face, and Trixie frowned. She would have to find a way out on her own, it seemed…

The sound of yelling and the clash of metal on the deck below her made her eyes widen. What was that? Why was other fighting going on? She leapt back as she heard the sound of people moving up and around the scaffolding that surrounded the nearly-finished ship, prepared to fight whomever was coming.

It was a simple matter for Kael and Lavitz to carve through the troops sent to confront them, for the Defias had all of its more senior and trained members out preparing for their Stormwind operation while their newer ones were guarding the base, or at least that is what was said to the Elf and his new companion by one defeated Defias member.

After continuing down the corridors and going through another room, the two came across a winding staircase that went all the way around a room. At the bottom were a series of Harvesters, one of which was far larger than the others, and the heat of the room made it seem as if this was the smelting room where the mined ore was taken.

The smaller Harvesters assaulted Kael and Lavitz upon their entry to the room, for when they reached the end of the ramp-staircase they had a trio of machines set upon them in seeming defensive response.

The heat of the room made it easier for Kael to use his waning magic, and so the trio never got to lay a metal finger on either of them, instead resembling the smelted metal of the room more than they did usual Harvesters.

In response to the three others failing to do their task, the largest began to move. It had little in the way of scarecrow-like covering, instead appearing to be more of a normal metal golem mixed with wood, outside of the very top piece of what the other Harvesters wore on their chest, a burlap or some similar material covering over the shoulders and upper abdomen that resembled an oversized handkerchief.

“Foe-Reaper 5000…online. All systems: nominal.”

Kael and Lavitz looked at one another before shrugging, seeing the big robot as little more of a threat than the others. They were made of the same stuff, after all, so why would it be any more difficult to take down with fire?

Its basic face with only one big eye and a smaller one swirled around briefly, “Acquiring target.”

It stopped when it faced Kael.

“Target acquired.”

Realizing that this meant that it wanted to kill him first, Kael began to backpedal while trying to summon forth more magic. Unfortunately he had not had enough time to recover after dealing with the last three, and so he was not capable of using it just yet.

The attention off of him for once, Lavitz tried getting in the way of the machine and began hacking away with his spear at its body. It ignored him even as he continued to stand in its path, and when it was apparent that it would not reconsider its decision to murder Kael, Lavitz began to back up just like Kael all the while tirelessly throwing strike after basic strike into its core. He would do more complicated techniques, but he was too out of practice and too weak to use his more powerful ones, leaving him with only the most basic of striking techniques.

Kael had unknowingly been backing up the ramp, but by the time he was a third of the way he felt strong enough to let out an attack. He murmured the words as he also cursed at the slow yet menacing behemoth of a machine, and suddenly it had a hole burned through one of its sides.

“Overdrive engine: activated.”

That did not sound good. And by not good, Kael considered it suddenly bashed Lavitz off the side of the ramp and increasing its speed at rushing at Kael to be very not good. Quite bad, in fact.

So, when it took a swing at him with its massive metal claw of a hand, Kael decided to follow after his new partner and go off the side of the ramp rather than be struck by it. The landing was a little rough, but he managed to at least not land on top of his recovering ally.

The machine did not appear programmed to move off a ledge such as that, and so it turned around and started to move down the ramp at its more rapid pace. Realizing they would only have moments once again before it reached them, Kael forced another fireball out even though doing so put him past his limit. It physically hurt him to cast it, but he gritted his teeth and fought through it so he could strike the machine before it could kill either of them with its menacing claws.

They had been wrong. It was faster, tougher, and its claws seemed more fearsome. Kael most certainly did not want it getting near him, so he was glad that his second magic attack deepened the damaged done to its one side.

“Safety restrictions: offline. Catastrophic system failure: imminent,” its monotone voice announced, though this was followed up by it moving even faster and erratically towards them. It reached the end of the ramp and began rushing straight at them.

Seeing a door leading further down into the cave, Kael helped Lavitz to his feet and began running to it. Sure, there were guards by the dozens now entering there, but the giant robot was more scary…and likely running on fumes, if what it was saying was true.

It gave chase to them across the room and to the exit…but it did not reach the open door. It instead collapsed to its knees and fell down, its speed coming to a halt as its various parts became frigid.

“Overheat threshold: exceeded. System failure: wheat clog in port 2. Shutting down…”

This was one step away from clawing straight through either of them, so it was just in the nick of time.

About thirty rendered unconscious Defias cronies later, Kael and Lavitz came face to face with another door, though this one was sealed. A cannon that was under construction lay near it though, so with a shrug the two used the cannon to blow down the door. This had the effect of using the door as a projectile against a few Defias behind the door, and they shared a laugh at the fortunate happenstance. Those were people that might’ve fought them after all, and now they were beneath a thick door and trapped.

On the way through Kael bent down to pat one on the back of the head as she struggled to get free of the reinforced door.

“Excuse me.”

He shoved her face down into the sand beneath her, which was Kael’s first sign that this was a different environment. He looked up and found that for the first time he was not going further into the rabbit-hole, but rather at the main chamber itself! A beach led to some walkways which led to a giant ship with cannons and a very suspicious fog cloud hanging over it…

A loud howl like a wolf made Kael raise his eyebrows. Did they have dogs here? He would hate fighting dogs. They would get all up in his face and probably aim for the neck, and he needed that.

“What was that?”

Lavitz, more experienced with the Defias, recognized the sound though. He began a mad dash towards the docks and Kael found himself actually having difficulty keeping up with the normally below average speed man for once.

“That was Ripsnarl!” Lavitz swung his spear to knock a pair of Defias members into the waters below the dock, “If he is howling like that, he must be fighting! Come on!”

This was the end of the road concerning the Defias hideout, so Trixie ought to be down here if they still had her…and given that Ripsnarl had to be fighting SOMEone, Trixie just might be trying to escape on her own.

This had the effect of making him gain the same speed boost his partner had gained at the sight of a possible partner in distress. The poor new Defias members on the docks were very confused as a pair of people barreled straight through them with a flurry of sword and spear strikes smashing them every which way.

“Move it!”

“Coming through!”

Some of the ones on the higher decks had the bright idea to aim cannons at the two, but that stopped when a skillfully thrown spear impaled one of them and caused the cannon to tilt and blast the nearby deck, blowing half of it away and causing a good deal of the crew to fall.

A group of parrots swooped down and joined the fray, attacking Kael, who had to use the handle of his sword to begin knocking them out of the air. They were just animals after all…and almost as annoying as dogs hypothetically would be.

Lavitz used the time Kael was busy with the birds to sweep away their remaining foes, though his energy was beginning to crash.

He stabbed one in the gut who had been about to slash at him with a sword, fortunately avoiding this due to his spear’s length trumping that of the sword, “I don’t have the strength to use my stronger techniques…” he pulled the spear out and repeated the movement he had done against the Hobgoblin, though he made sure to smash the man over the side of the scaffolding ramp they were going up rather than disembowel him completely, “So this will have to do! Harpoon!”

It was short work for the two of them to dispatch the others in their way, for while the Defias had numbers on their side both Kael and Lavitz were far more experienced and were able to defeat their foes with coordinated ease by using a staggered fighting formation where one moved forward and then the next, sweeping all challengers out of their path.

Fighting was coming naturally to Kael, and he had little doubt he was formerly quite skilled at using a blade, while the trained soldier beside him was quite the ideal companion to have when fighting in the thick of a melee like this. The man must have been on an entirely different level before he had been captured and brought down to his current starved status.

When the fighting ended and the two nearly reached the top of the ship, which now was beginning to clear of fog, Lavitz motioned for Kael to continue upwards.

“I will keep reinforcements from coming. Find your friend, and hurry back!”

Leaving him behind made Kael gain some pause. Sure, Lavitz could handle some normal fighters on his own, but he might get overwhelmed if enough reinforcements came. Similarly, Kael worried what might happen to him without someone watching his own back, “Can you handle them?”

“I am a knight of Stormwind, of course I can handle a few rowdy bandits.”

With him seeming determined to hold the line, Kael let Lavitz stay there as Kael finished going up the platform’s long and winding ramp to get on top of the ship.

His very first sight was Trixie standing in a poised position on the middle of the deck, and her face became one of complete awe as they met eyes.

“Kael!”

The two ran to eachother and embraced firmly. A part of each of them had worried about not being reunited with their only real friend and companion, and now they were together once again. Trixie had freed herself while Kael had fought through Hel to get to this point, and now they could see about leaving this place together. The Stormwind vs. Defias conflict be damned, all either cared about was leaving this forsaken area and continuing on their previous path.

Still, despite the exhilaration each felt at the sight of the other, they pulled back from one another after a moment. It was embarrassing and mushy to just hug in the middle of a place like this, so they cut it short.

“Um,” Trixie nervously poked at the ground with a foot, “It’s good to see you.”

Kael looked over her body for any signs of harm, some obvious areas coming to mind as he saw her bloodied arm and shoulder, “How hurt are you?”

Trixie looked away and shrugged, not willing to look and see all the blood that was blending in with Kael’s red armor. How much pain had he been through to come and save her?

Kael dug deep into the bag he brought and pulled out a healing potion he had saved specifically for Trixie and only for her should she need it. Trixie took it and drank half of it, and as she did so her wounds seemed to melt away. The blood remained where it was, but no more flowed forth and it seemed as if she had never actually been harmed.

“Thanks,” she handed it back to him so that he could drink the rest. He deserved it after all. Kael smiled at her as he obliged her silent request, revitalizing himself so that he might have the strength to finish this dungeon crawl.

“Hurry up! I can hear more guards coming!”

Trixie tried looking past Kael but couldn’t see where Lavitz had called from due to him being on a lower level.

“Who is that?”

Kael smiled, thinking that the Human might readily befriend Trixie given the man’s friendly disposition. Trixie needed more friends, not that he was one to speak, “A friend I met on the way,” he took Trixie’s arm in one hand and turned back towards where he had come from, “Now, we need to get going—”

“Mrglemrglemrgle!”

Kael turned his head to the side and noticed that a blue creature of sorts was running at him from a nearby cabin. In its hand was a rolling pin and in the other was a meat cleaver, but given that the creature wasn’t even up to his waist he kicked the meat cleaver out of its hands.

“What is this thing?”

Trixie knelt down and tried to stop Cookie, but Cookie seemed determined to keep whacking its rolling pin into Kael’s leg near harmlessly.

“Cookie? No more bread, please—”

Cookie looked up at her, seemed to think for a moment, and then turned his attention off of Kael’s leg and instead began whacking away at Trixie with the bludgeoning weapon.

“Rgg! Mrg!”

Kael rolled his eyes at the display and brought his booted foot back. When he swung it forward it sent the creature flying given its small size. Kael’thas tip number 1: don’t fight something that can punt you if you don’t want to be punted.

“Who names a fish-frog Cookie?” Kael snorted, not taking the situation seriously since he did not know who it belonged to.

The Murloc bounced off the side of the cabin he had come out of, wounded by the kick but not knocked out yet. It started to get up when Kael approached it and stomped his foot down softly on it, hard enough to pin it but not hard enough to really hurt it. He just didn’t want this…thing hitting him with that damned rolling pin anymore.

“Get away from him!”

Kael recognized the voice just in time to catch a roundhouse kick to the face. He fell flat on his arse as Vanessa appeared in front of him and knelt down to the Murloc, a healing potion in hand as she held it up to its lips.

“Cookie, drink up.”

Kael rubbed his jaw as he thought about what just happened. How fast was Vanessa that she could just do that? He had no idea that she was even anywhere nearby, and she suddenly appeared and smashed him hard enough in the face that he was glad to still have his teeth.

Once Cookie was nursed back to health Vanessa helped him to his feet and pointed him in the direction that Kael had come from, “Go get the others.”

Nearby Trixie was getting back up to her feet because as Vanessa rushed to the aid of her pet she had swept Trixie’s legs from underneath her faster than Trixie could even react. She was on the ground by the time she knew something was hitting her.

When Trixie got up she saw her partner trying to do the same, only for Vanessa to pull out an orange and yellow dagger coated with something at the very tip. Kael tried to back away but the young girl grabbed him by the long hair and drove it into his gut before he could get any real distance from her.

“Kael!”

Vanessa tossed Kael over onto the deck of the ship while sending Trixie a death glare.

“You better stay out of this! I may need you alive, but I know how to make healing potions as well as I can make poison! Don’t tempt me!”

Trixie ignored the warning and tried to protect Kael by whipping at Vanessa, but the girl caught it in mid air and yanked Trixie off of her feet using it.

“You aren’t that dexterous for an Elf, but I don’t supposed you need to be with the strength you have,” Vanessa yanked the whip from Trixie’s stunned grasp and threw it to the side, “I won’t be like my father. I won’t let an Elf take me down in my moment of triumph!”

Beside her, Kael’s vision was beginning to blur. Whatever she had injected him with, it wasn’t killing him, but his eyes were out of whack now. His head felt fuzzy and he was worried about what would happen now, since Vanessa had complete power over them. Would she kill him and keep Trixie? What was she even planning to do with her?

Vanessa knelt down and grabbed Kael by the face, lifting it up enough so that they could look eye to eye even as his vision faded, “I’ve been waiting a long time for this you know.”

Trixie sprang to her feet and prepared to remove Vanessa from Kael with force, but in a flash the orange and yellow massive blade was held to Kael’s throat. Trixie froze as she realized the non-verbal threat: move, and he dies.

“Biding my time, building my forces, studying the minds of my enemies…”

Kael’s vision completely faded from reality and was instead replaced with a dark void, though it was not as if his eyes were closed. He just was seeing something else. And what he was seeing had a pitch-black backdrop.

Seeing that he was enthralled with her poison, Vanessa dropped Kael onto the deck and stood up straight as he fell victim to it, “I was never very good at hand to hand combat, you know? Not like my father…”

Trixie moving to once again attack Vanessa was stopped by Vanessa appearing behind her and smashing her in the back of the neck with enough force to cause Trixie to drop to her knees.

“But I always excelled at poisons. I learned as I traveled Azeroth in an attempt to find that Elven bastard who killed my father…So I learned ways of getting what I want, particularly venoms that effect the mind.”

It was then that Kael’s ears and what he was seeing began to make sense. Before him now stood the figure of Glub’tok, who was slowly becoming surrounded by flames.

“Poor Glub’tuk. When his powers manifested, his own Ogre mound was the first to burn.”

Vanessa’s voice was equal parts sympathetic to her comrade as well as mocking, like one might tease a member of their family. Listening to her voice made Kael realize that he was seeing something from the past, just like the incense had.

The area around Glub’tok became increasingly enraptured with flames, and the poor Ogre could only watch in horror as he burned everything around him.

“Deep within his soul, the one thing he feared most of all…Was himself.”

On the deck of the ship Trixie took a swing at Vanessa, and while Vanessa blocked it she was not expecting to actually be pushed back by its sheer strength. The surprise pain irritated the teenager, who quickly paid Trixie back by spinning around her and landing a powerful kick into Trixie’s gut.

“I told you to stay out of this!”

Kael’s vision of the fires and of Glub’tok began to fade until they were replaced with nothing…though this only lasted long enough for a vision of the small green guy he fought earlier was shown cowering in the darkness. Once again free to do so, Vanessa narrated.

“Most Rogues prefer to cloak themselves in the shadows…but not Helix.”

Out of the darkness crept the similarly dark figures of what Kael had to admit were the most foul spiders he had ever seen. They unnerved him, but he could not move in his stupor. Why was Vanessa showing him this?

“You never know what skitters in the darkness!”

Trixie cast a sheet of ice down where Vanessa was standing, but the girl flipped over it and slammed down on Trixie’s back. The strike flatted Trixie to the floor of the deck, and with a stomp on her Vanessa revealed just how annoyed she was getting at Trixie interrupting her.

“Stop getting in my way!”

As the spiders overran Helix and covered the vision in darkness the scene once again changed, this time showing instead the giant machine Kael had decommissioned earlier.

“Can you imagine the life of a machine?”

The machine was replaced with a small flickering light, which was miniscule compared to the void around it.

“A simple spark can mean the difference between life,” Vanessa gave a sad laugh, “And death.”

The flickering of the light began to ebb, only to suddenly vanish altogether.

Vanessa was showing him the fears and trauma of her lieutenants…of how they were people too, even if they were not on the same side. That was the message Kael was getting, but what did she hope to do? Win his sympathy? His allegiance? She could just end things right here and now and be done with it, but she seemed to be sparing him all the while showing him things that would garner sympathy.

With the light gone it was instead replaced by a normal looking Human man that Kael did not recognize, but the ongoing narration filled him in soon enough on who it was meant to be.

“Ripsnarl wasn’t always a bloodthirsty savage,” nearby him a group of Humans appeared, and Vanessa’s voice quieted somewhat as she continued, “Once, he even had a family.”

The man disappeared and was replaced by the beastly being now known as Ripsnarl, and Kael cringed as he thought about what was going to happen.

“He was called James Harrington. A tragedy in many parts…”

Kael shut his eyes as the wolf-being attacked the Human family, but even when his eyes shut the vision did not go away. He had to watch the horror of seeing the man lose his mind, kill his family, and then the vision ended as Ripsnarl came to realize what had happened…and what he had done.

With the end of this Kael’s normal vision began to return to him, and Vanessa smirked as she noticed him begin to slowly rise to his feet.

“So you return to the land of consciousness…” Vanessa levied her blade at him, “So, with what you have seen, can you see now that we’re not just some criminals? We’re like everyone else. We have our fears, we have our weaknesses. We are people like any other, and you are ruining our lives by coming here and destroying everything we have worked for! Leave now, and I will spare your life, but continue to defy us by depriving us of our one chance for a better life, and I’ll cut you down!”

Kael rose to his feet and drew his blade. Yes, he had sympathy for them, but no, he was not going to put his life ahead of saving someone he cared about. How could he live with himself if he just ran away after all they had been through?

“I do not know why you need her, but I am leaving with Trixie if it’s the last thing I do.”

Vanessa shook her head in a mixture of aggravation and disgust, “Fine then. I will not share my father’s fate! Your life ends here!”

Slowed by the lingering effects of the poison, Kael was unable to parry Vanessa even as she rushed him headfirst and pulled out a second blade with which to stab him. Instead he was spared by Trixie lunging for her whip and bringing it down on one of Vanessa’s arms, giving the girl pause as she very nearly slit Kael’s throat.

“Vanessa, please, stop! Is this really what your father would want? Is this the life he would want for you? Why are you doing this!?”

The moment of anger lost by the sudden pause, Vanessa punched Kael and knocked him back as she tugged her arm free of the whip.

“I have waited my whole life for this moment!” she chuckled as she looked down on Kael as he fought to stand up again, “To be honest, I owe you all a debt of gratitude. As a result of your arrival here days ago, we’ve finally been given a chance to take out revenge. The supplies and manpower we were granted for our uprising is more than anything we could have hoped for, all for capturing one Elf!”

Once ready to stand again Kael brandished his blade at Vanessa, but it didn’t seem to worry her at all. She simply stared at him as he held the blade threateningly, her eyes carrying all of her emotion since her mouth was shrouded by her red mask.

“You’re a bit too late. If you stop me now then all of this will have truly been for nothing. So hurry up and leave already! Am I to believe you would really do all of this for one woman? No-one is that self-less!”

Trixie had the opportunity to shoot Vanessa in the back, but if the insanely fast girl managed to sidestep it Kael would be the one hurt. Furthermore, Trixie wasn’t even sure if she could bring herself to hurt the girl. She was a child, and sure she was powerful, but she could hear the pain in her voice. The pain of having lost everything, and everyone…and that was something Trixie felt she could relate to. How could she cast judgment on someone who wanted revenge for great injustices when she herself once took revenge on someone who had done wrong to her?

Twilight…

In any case, Trixie did not want Vanessa to harm Kael, but she had little but her voice to use given the circumstances, “Stop this, now! If you keep fighting like this, if you seek to drag others down to satisfy your own loss, you'll lose yourself in that pain! I know what you went through must have been painful on a level few know, but you're too young to lose your heart to revenge like this!”

Kael used the moment Vanessa’s eyes widened to lunge forth: if he could force her into submission, perhaps they could finally end this. Lavitz was busy fighting off a small army from the sounds of metal clashing on the ramp, so unless they defeated Vanessa there was no hope.

Vanessa used both her daggers to parry Kael, and with enough force she diverted his blade to the side and then slipped a shiv into his already wounded gut. Fortunately his armor was taking the brunt of his damage still, but it did not have infinite durability.

Kael’s next swing upward hit nothing but air as Vanessa jumped out of the way and jabbed a finger in Trixie’s direction.

“Shut up! My father was hunted down and murdered by one of your own damn people, just for a satchel of gold! He wasn’t given the chance to surrender, he was slaughtered like an animal right in front of me! You Elves are no better than we Humans, especially not that black and blue eyed monster!” she shouted at Trixie with such furor that Kael had no doubt he’d be dead if he inspired that same level of anger in the girl. Trixie needed to live though, so it seemed Vanessa was purposefully keeping herself from throttling her.

Vanessa once again sidestepped Kael and slipped a dagger into a chink in his armor as she rushed past him at a speed even beyond that of the mercenary from the other day.

“I’ve devoted my life to what my father started, that’s why I’m here!”

She followed this attack by twirling around and sweeping down at his knee, cutting into the weaker armor of his legs before combo-ing this with an elbow into his gut. Her speed allowed her to chain her attacks so adeptly, but the longer she stayed by him the more of a chance Kael had to grab her.

And he did just that. Kael used her elbowing him to buckle down and clamp her arm against his body by bringing in his arms. She growled in pain as he tried to keep his grip on her, while Trixie went about using her whip on Vanessa’s legs.

Kael tried to calm Vanessa down somewhat by explaining himself, “I do not seek your head. The Alliance betrayed your people as it has my own. I will not seek justice on their behalf! Please, Hope…Vanessa! We don’t have to be enemies…”

With strength far and beyond what one could expect of a teenager, Vanessa hurled Kael over her shoulder and through the air at Trixie. He slammed into his partner and Vanessa free herself of Trixie’s weapon at the same time, “It’s all the same! You’ve come here and ruined everything we’ve been working for! We can’t afford to lose her, and I can tell you meant it when you said you won’t leave her, so there’s nothing to reconcile!” the effort of tossing a full grown man actually winded her, so Vanessa paused a moment to breathe heavily, “It was my father’s will that Stormwind be brought to heel for its actions, and it is my duty to carry out that dream!”

As Trixie removed herself from underneath Kael she looked at the emotional girl they were fighting, “It’s not a dream, it’s a curse!” Trixie balled her fists as she looked at the girl, who she could tell was in extreme emotional turmoil, “You’re not bad, you’re just misguided! What do you think will happen when you hurt all those people you want revenge on? Their families will grow up hating your people as well!”

Kael got up and prepared to fight again, though he was quickly placed on the defensive as a flurry of blows came at him from Vanessa. For every one he could block two or three more got past his sword and embedded in his body, and he was quite sure that he would have died many strokes ago if he didn’t have gallons of those healing potions in him still.

“This is my fight and my war! Nothing you say will bring my father back, nothing you say will change what they’ve done to us!” Vanessa uppercutted Kael and knocked him into a wall on the ship, “We’ve taken a long treacherous road to get here! I’ll kill anyone in my way! This war will never end, it will never be over so long as I breathe!”

“Nothing will change her mind…” Kael spat out blood as he came to the realization that they were not dealing with a rational mind. They were dealing with someone who had been so warped by tragedy that there was no saving them, not now, “Trixie, we have to…”

Trixie shook her head and scowled, refusing to accept Kael’s view, “No! I’ve had more second chances than anyone ought to have, I’ve lost everything before,” memories rushed past Trixie as she spoke, and she could feel a sudden sense of pain and loss now that she spoke of the matter, “This is my chance to do things right for once. I am not giving up on her, I’ll stop her!”

Living on the street, eating from the garbage, losing her reputation, losing her home, losing anyone who would associate with her, losing her fans…

Trixie teared up further as she remembered one last thing. Losing her mother, and being unable to do anything about it. The horror and tragedy of losing a loved one without being able to do anything about it…

She knew that pain, and she would be damned if she did not try and save another from it. She was here for a reason, she told herself, and she still had a chance to make things right this time around.

Trixie knew it was futile to even try and stop Vanessa physically, but she still cast her magic again and again in a rapid barrage of giant ice shards. Vanessa avoided them all of course, but even she was beginning to grow tired. She only had so much energy after all, and some barely nicked her as they flew by and crashed into the ship. One even caused an explosion for some reason Trixie could not fathom, but her attention was soon distracted by Vanessa gun punching her and slamming her elbow down on Trixie’s neck as Trixie bent over from the first blow.

“Vanessa, please…”

Kael angrily swung his blade at Vanessa in retaliation for her striking Trixie, but a thrown dagger caught him straight in the chest. He coughed up more blood as he fell to his knees and tried to remove the oversized dagger from himself.

Vanessa made the mistake of looking down at Trixie and having their eyes meet. The moment they met made her pause, and it gave Trixie time to murmur, “Is this what you want? Is this what the true you really wants?”

That question pierced Vanessa and caused her to pause completely. Her eyes widened as she thought about what it meant, for she had always lived for her father’s goal and his dream…not her own.

“But…this is all I have…so…”

She lowered her head into her open hand and began to twitch as the traumatized girl began to think about her life. She had given up any chance of living a normal life, she had even killed her foster family. What else did she even have but the wishes of her father?

“Without this, I have nothing to live for…Nothing!”

She was nearly crying, and understandably so. Her age was showing, for she couldn’t bear all the stress heaped upon her shoulders. Everything was crumbling down around her and she didn’t know what to do anymore when before it all seemed so certain.

Trixie rose and placed a gentle hand on Vanessa’s shoulder. She was doing this the way Twilight would. She was giving someone another chance…

“Then we can find something. I know all too well that it’s too sad to only live for hatred and anger. You can’t live with holding every grudge there is.”

She still had to sort out all the thoughts that had flooded to her mind, but for now it was enough. She had regained a part of who she was, and she couldn’t bear to witness this kind of pain in someone else, especially someone so young.

Vanessa tried shoving Trixie’s hand off, only to fail because of Trixie’s enhanced strength, “It’s only human to be angered by injustice! People aren’t perfect!”

“Even so…”

Kael, having finally fought through his pain, gaped as he watched Trixie pull Vanessa into a hug. The girl seemed shocked by this as well and merely stared forward, not saying anything as someone treated her with kindness only ever shown to her by a few others in her entire life.

“Trixie, have you lost your mind!?”

Ignoring Kael, Vanessa lowered her face into Trixie’s body and began to sob. She returned the hug, seeking comfort that she had craved for some time yet fought the urge for because she couldn’t forgive herself.

“Father…I…I don’t know anymore…”

The moment between them lasted quite some time before it was interrupted, and when it was it was not by Kael.

“Vanessa…”

Ripsnarl, Glub’tok, Helix, and even Foe-Reaper 5000 had arrived at the ship. Kael was baffled by how they had gotten past Lavitz, but the sound of battle still raging on the dock scaffolding at least reassured him that it wasn’t because they killed him.

The group moved forward towards Trixie and Vanessa as the two of them looked on with some confusion, Vanessa’s eyes even still tearing up. Kael moved to intercept the group of severely wounded Lieutenants, but Ripsnarl held up a hand.

“We haven’t come to fight,” he bowed his head weakly, “Please…”

This fight was over, Kael got the feeling, and so he wordlessly let them pass. If they could take care of their hurting leader then that would likely be for the best. Stormwind would likely come and clean them out in the near future, and Kael honestly wished them the best of luck. He did not wish them any ill-will given all their misfortunes, himself included on the list of them.

Trixie let them all surround Vanessa and take over the comforting of her as she fell to her knees and hands to sob. Helix was the first to reach Vanessa and placed a consoling hand on her back, “Hey boss, we’re sorry…this is all our fault…”

The robot activated a heating protocol and began to warm Vanessa up, hoping it would help her emotionally, while Glub’tok tried to figure out something between his two heads to say.

Ripsnarl instead stood by Kael and sighed, his head still hanging down, “Without her, we all would have been lost years ago. She helped us through our tough times, and she never abandoned us. We owe her everything, so please, let us leave in peace.”

Once again Kael agreed, and he nodded understandingly to Ripsnarl. The former Human approached the young girl, with whom he had found a new family after killing his own in a savage rage, and he tried helping her to her feet, “Vanessa, please, we must go. There are—”

“There they are!”

The sound came from one of the lower scaffoldings and ramps, and it was followed by the sound of a cannon firing. An eruption on the deck appeared in the space between Kael and Vanessa, with the others all being on the far side of her.

When the smoke cleared both Kael and Trixie looked to see the damage: Vanessa’s legs were both wounded, but everyone else appeared fine. They turned back to see a crowd of four and then five arriving on deck, their larger members having hauled the cannon up with them.

“Vanessa!” the Defias group cried out as they noticed her nearly broken legs. She fought to not yell in pain, only barely succeeding due to years of practice.

“I…” Vanessa started to speak, only to fail as she once again collapsed onto her knees.

At the head of the group of five was the Elven Hunter that had been tracking Kael and Trixie. She stared menacingly at both of them before looking over at the Defias members with smug satisfaction. Beside her was the mercenary Kael had come to meet before, and the man gave Kael a look of “I’m sorry” as he stood by the Hunter. He hadn’t been able to find an appraiser yet it seemed.

Also with them was a balding older Human with a greying goatee, dressed in the armor of a Warrior, a woman in cloth that resembled that of a Priestess, and another seeming Hunter.

The Elf of the group nodded towards the Defias and then knocked an arrow in preparation, “I am sure the humans won’t mind if we take her head as a trophy, just like her father before her. Kill her, and capture the Elves!”

Arrows flung and the cannon rang again as both Kael and Trixie watched in horror…

“F-foe Reaper?”

Vanessa was looking up at her favorite machine as it stood with its back towards the cannon that shot at them. The machine had taken the powerful shot at such a close range and various arrows were hanging out of it. Already damaged severely by Kael’s magic, it collapsed before her while speaking one last time.

“Primary objective: Protect Leader…com…pleeete…”

The Elven Hunter leveled the cannon at the group with a smug look on her face still. The cannons were built to have multiple shots in them, and she was grateful for the innovation shown by the former engineers that became the Defias.

“Who is next? I don’t care how many of you thugs die. I am going to get my reward.”

Kael and Trixie exchanged glances, neither knowing of a way to escape. They could try to run off the opposite edge of the boat, but in their condition they would not get far, and the Hunter group had already proven capable of finding them…but they also couldn’t stand and fight, for not one of the people who would fight was at full strength.

They did not come to a decision of what to do by the time Glub’tok rushed forward at the cannon and started forming an ice attack in one wounded hand, “You’re gonna die!”

He only crossed half of the deck by the time the cannon let out another bang, and a hole was blown through the flesh of the Ogre. It did not die in complete vain though, for as it fell Helix revealed himself as having been on his back. He jumped off and prepared a bomb as he closed the distance to the cannon.

“Try this!”

A set of arrows pierced him in midair while he threw the bomb down into the cannon, which was promptly abandoned by the Hunter’s crew as it violently exploded. As it did so Helix hit the ground, dying as he tried to look back at his leader.

“Sorry…boss…we couldn’t…help you when you…”

The one to have shot him was the Elven Hunter, who had drawn her bow again and shot him at a stunning pace. Her bow was glowing with magic which likely had something to do with it, but still the display was chillingly intimidating.

“I am on a different level entirely from you all. I could have done this alone, but I was smart enough to bring a group just to be sure. Care to just die and get this over with?”

Still rendered immobile, Vanessa began shaking from her position on the ground. The terror and pain she was feeling had stricken her, “Years of turmoil…years of work…”

Kael nearly jumped as he felt a hand place itself on his shoulder. He turned to see Ripsnarl standing beside him.

“Go now. There is an exit to the cavern on the far wall. I will provide you the time you require to escape. Please, protect Vanessa for us.”

Hearing him speak those words snapped Vanessa out of her shock and actually gave her the adrenaline she needed to start rising to her feet.

“Ripsnarl, no!”

Kael hated himself for accepting the sacrifice, but what else could he do? He nodded and turned, purposefully moving so that the arrows next flung at Vanessa struck him in the back instead. He tried grabbing the girl along with Trixie, but she fought their grip as she tried to get to Ripsnarl.

The wolf-man had charged straight at the enemies and had drawn all of their fire, only falling after being struck by countless arrows and projectiles including a thrown sword.

As Kael and Trixie reached the edge of the boat, Vanessa finally got herself free of them and drew her weapons again. Tears were steaming down her face as Ripsnarl lay dying.

“Vanessa…listen to me…don’t end up like the rest of us…” with one last cough, the noble savage man collapsed for the final time, “Edwin, I’m sorry I failed you…”

The pain in her legs nearly forgotten, Vanessa prepared to do something unknown to the others in order to exact blind vengeance, “You killed him…you Stormwind bastards killed him…they’ve taken everything from me again…he was the last of my family!”

“Vanessa!” Trixie called, but she was ignored as Vanessa struck a match and tossed it to the side.

“There’s nothing left for me now…”

The Elven Hunter lifted their bow and prepared to finish off the wounded leader of the Defias Brotherhood, but the shot never connected: Vanessa swatted it out of the air and growled furiously.

''ENOUGH! I will not give you the pleasure! If I'm going to die, I'm taking you all with me. MY FATE IS MY OWN!"

The reason for an earlier explosion was revealed as the ship rocked with a series of massive explosions all around it. The chain reaction unsteadied all those aboard except Vanessa, who had been braced for it. The ropes holding the ships mast burst and began to swing back and forth as the ship turned ablaze.

Trixie noticed that the swinging ropes were actually about to go in the direction that they needed to flee, which she conveyed to Kael with a hand gesture. By the time they noticed this the others had all gained their bearings again, and they prepared to jump ship when Vanessa let out an insane laugh.

“You didn’t honestly think I’d only plant one set of explosives, did you?!”

She tossed another match to the other side of the boat and the entire ship rocked from the resulting explosion.

Kael looked back to the swaying ropes and noticed that they likely would only have one more chance to grab one before both he and Trixie were ravaged by the fire. He grabbed Trixie fiercely and pulled her close while moving to grab one of them as it came to swing back.

“We have to go!”

Trixie tried to reach out to the nearby, but not in arm’s reach, Vanessa, “But—”

Kael yanked her as the rope arrived, not willing to die for someone who had chosen to die, “Now Trixie!”

He gripped the rope and they each went sailing through the air as the long line carried them over the water in the cave. Across from them was a beach of sorts that led to a tunnel, the exit mentioned by Ripsnarl.

As they swung in the air Kael turned back to see what was happening on the ship, only to recognize someone jump up onto it, spear in hand. The spear skewered the spare Hunter as they tried to escape the ship, while the others had all been knocked off by explosions.

“Lavitz!”

The soldier had looked around to find Kael and his partner, risking his life to save his new comrade, and when Kael yelled out he looked up to see him. Seeing also the kneeling form of Vanessa, Lavitz ran forward and grabbed her in an almost tackling fashion as he too grabbed onto one of the rapidly swaying ropes.

Kael and Trixie let go of their rope before it began to reverse momentum, and each of them slammed down into the sand of the beach. When they looked back up they saw Lavitz sailing through the air with Vanessa in one arm, and for a moment they had a glimmer of hope.

That glimmer was ruined by another explosion rocking the ship, and a foot long shard of its wood impaling itself in Lavitz’s lower leg. The sudden pain caused him to lose grip of the unconscious girl, and Vanessa fell down into the deep waters below as Lavitz then swung a little further and crashed into the sand heavily.

“Ugh—damnit!”

Kael tried to get up to help out his new friend, but the last of the poison got to him and he passed out from it in addition to all the pain he had been in. Trixie looked down to him and noticed his condition, before rushing to the side of their third party member who was still conscious.

“Your leg…”

Lavitz forced himself upright and stumbled over to where Kael was. Despite having the wood still in his leg he managed to grab Kael and haul him on top of one shoulder.

“I’ll…be fine. Let’s…go.”

Trixie nodded, though she did remove the shard from his leg before they each began to hobble towards the exit. The end of the tunnel seemed light, like an exit to the outdoors, and it served as an inspiration for them both to keep moving just that one foot further.

While Lavitz was struggling with the physical side of things, Trixie was struggling with how she was too weak to save the others. They weren’t bad people…they just were…

Trixie shook her head as they limped onward, “Hope…” she sobbed at the thought of Vanessa’s fate, “Even now, I’m nothing but a failure…I failed you, just like I’ve failed at everything else in my life…”

Lavitz moved a shoulder to bring attention to Kael, “He’ll be fine…” he turned to look at Trixie with concern, “Will you be?”

“Yeah…I just…want to rest a bit, when we can.”

She had a lot of memories, new and old, as well as emotions to sort through.

They had survived the Deadmines. Unfortunately the same could not be said for many of its inhabitants.

“Mrg! Mrglmrgl! Mrrrrrrrrrrrg!”

“M…mrg?”

“Mrglmrglmrgl!”

“C…cookie…”

Author's Note

A/N: Woah, that was a big one! Ton of boss fights after all! Not going to devote this much time to each one for every dungeon in the future, probably just the major couple ones, but boy was this interesting to write...if you can catch all the huge references you win!

Party size has increased to 3. Next, we go to Stormwind! But first, the group takes a break, because boy do they need it!

Please let me know what you think in the comments below, as not only does it help me write, there is certainly a lot to discuss and talk about!

Rest Experience 4: Food and Thought

A/N: Special thanks to Yoshizawesome, terrycloth, GamerGoddessDin, refferee, Freya, SilentMech, Quixotic Enigma, nioniosbbbb, JumpFail200, and ILurvTrixie for your comments last chapter! It's the most support I've gotten in a long time, and I hope to hear from you all again because it's really made my day and helped me get past a few really rough spots the past few days to bring you this chapter! I even added an extra bit at the end as a special thank you, as well as some foreshadowing and whatnot to build off of some lightly hinted things before!

I hope you all enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

The cave tunnel let out after what felt like a long trek that led downwards, even including a few ledges. Trixie considered how things might go if she offered her equine form to help carry Kael and Lavitz, but while she trusted their new ally on some levels, she didn’t know him well enough to reveal her alternate form just yet. What would he think if she just sneezed and became a horse? Would he be put off?

If Kael was seemingly worse off than merely unconscious, Trixie would put his well being first, but he seemed oddly at peace and his wounds had stopped bleeding.

Upon exiting the cave the two took a moment to breathe and check that no-one was following them. Trixie took a moment to sigh in relief when no immediate threat, though it was quickly interrupted by a man in green-ish chainmail stepping out from the shadows cast beside the cave’s end.

This was one of the mercenaries with the Hunter…but he was smiling at them, and made no move to intercept them. Trixie thought back to a few moments ago and realized that after he first appeared he had disappeared from the ensuing chaos. Apparently he had thought ahead and come here.

“Mrglmrglmrgl!”

Before Trixie or Lavitz could question the mercenary’s motivations or what he would do, the war cry of a small army of Murlocs roared forth and was met by many more such noises. The cave had let out by the beach, and from the shore came the Murloc army.

The mercenary nodded in a direction before turning his back on the others, his direction quickly captured by the Murlocs headed his way. Taking it as a sign that he was not going to fight them but instead deal with the animals about to attack them, Trixie helped Lavitz along as they carried the unconscious Kael together.

The sound of Murlocs being butchered rang out into the sky as Trixie and Lavitz finally found their way to the familiar Moonbrook, which had since become a ghost town. No-one was there, and the Alliance outpost was abandoned, a vast difference compared to how things had been before. Had the people milled out under the guidance of the now defeated Defias?

Trixie noticed that despite his best efforts Lavitz was struggling to keep walking, and so she decided to address the issue. Here was yet another example of a Human that was nothing like the ones she heard about from other Elves. He had helped Kael try and save her, he had taken a risk in trying to save Vanessa even if he failed, and he ignored numerous injuries to not slow them down and carry Kael.

“Lavitz, can you keep going?”

He nodded, though his eyes were nearly closed from the pain he was enduring.

“Yeah!”

While impressed at his fortitude, enough was enough. He was half-starved and heavily wounded. With Kael not able to walk on his own just yet and Lavitz the way he was, it would be idiotic to keep moving when perhaps rest would solve their issues.

“No, we’ll stay here for the time being. You should really keep off that leg,” Trixie paused as she led the other two over to an open house, “You really are a tough guy…”

Once both Kael and Lavitz were set down on the floor of the inn-like building, Trixie set about looking for things she could use to assist their conditions.

“Does it hurt?”

Slumped against a wall, Lavitz found it more comfortable than sitting at one of the tables given the extensive damage to his leg, “It’s just a scratch. I’ve had worse,” with a smirk he brought a hand up to where his heart rested in his chest, “If something doesn’t kill me outright, it won’t keep me down.”

Trixie managed to find some medical supplies in a drawer and removed them before checking first that Kael was no longer bleeding and next that Lavitz was wincing in pain. Conscious person takes precedence over unconscious person as far as pain went, “We should at least cover your wound…”

Lavitz nodded and let Trixie use what little medical knowledge she had to patch him up, perhaps using a little too much in the ways of bandages and gauze but he was in no position to complain.

Once done, Trixie held a hand out to him to shake, “So, I’m Trixie. Thank you for helping.”

“Your friend spoke about you. I’m glad I could be of assistance,” the Warrior smiled, though it was followed by a quick grunt of pain as his leg’s wound flared up.

Trixie cast her eyes over to Kael, who was resting against a barrel of sorts. He had done something insane to come and save her. The thought made her nearly blush in embarrassment as well as question her own courage and loyalty. Would she have done exactly as he had done in his place? While not a coward, Trixie doubted she could have mustered the will to power through a cove of bandits for the sake of one person.

Still, he had…and now he was sleeping off countless injuries, having very well come close to dying.

“He’s an idiot.”

Saying that helped Trixie ignore the awkwardness of thinking about what Kael did for her. Thinking of what he did being stupid rather than brave. Why did he risk himself for her like that? Sure, they were partners, but this was far and beyond what she would expect of someone to do on behalf of a mere partner!

Lavitz nodded as he glanced over to the man resting nearby, “You aren’t really wrong. After all, if he and I hadn’t crossed paths, I don’t think either of us would have gotten out alive.”

“Will he be alright?”

“I have a feeling he’ll be just fine…” Lavitz sighed as he closed his eyes and leaned back, “If he’s half as strong as the Elf my father served under, he’ll be just fine.”

That perked Trixie’s interest. This man was obviously some kind of soldier or fighter, probably from the nearby Stormwind, so it being a generational thing made her wonder about what that must be like, “Your father was a soldier too?”

“He was, just as his father before him,” his eyes opened as his head titled back to move his gaze to the ceiling of the abandoned inn, “He died years ago, back when we were still allied with you. He died serving Kael’thas Sunstrider when Garithos turned on them.”

As Lavitz spoke Trixie set about finding him food, for the longer she looked at him the more she realized he had not been eating regularly in what must have been months. He had the body of someone who ought to be in peak physical condition, only degraded by starvation. It showed by how he could take more damage than someone ought to, but perhaps that was willpower rather than his physical capability.

He nodded in thanks as Trixie brought him some plain bread left on a table in the room, “Don’t worry. The world may be at war, but I owe your friend my life,” he wolfed down the loaf and let out a content sound before looking once again towards Kael, “My father died saving a man named Kael’thas, and now I find myself indebted to one such man. Fate can be real funny sometimes…”

That left Trixie in an awkward place, because to her it meant that Kael had forgotten completely about whatever sacrifice the Warrior’s father had made years back. Had the Warrior picked up on the identity of Kael and was not bringing it up, or was he of the mind that many Elves with blonde hair were simply named Kael’thas after their lord?

In an attempt to divert the subject, Trixie looked to the still open entrance and decided it best to shut it while discussing what lay beyond it.

“What should we do now?”

“I must return to Stormwind…” Lavitz tried to raise himself to his feet but failed, “You are welcome to join me. I am sure Lord Wrynn will reward you two for your bravery.”

Trixie frowned. Walking straight into a hive of Humans might not prove that…safe. After all, they had met a couple nice ones, but how lucky could they possibly get time after time in terms of who they would come across? Would the King even be receptive to those of their persuasion?

“He won’t mind our…”

Trixie pointed to her ears and eyes, earning a chortle from the Human in their company.

“He is a Warrior through and through. He sees your people as the enemy now because they are a part of the Horde these days, but he’s accepted the aid of an Elf before, he can be reasonable, especially if we inform him of the Brotherhood’s defeat.”

While it was certainly a risk, Trixie actually saw some potential use out of meeting with a King…namely, if he didn’t execute them on the spot, he could be a good contact and hook to have in ways. Besides, they were being hunted and if the Hunter was still breathing she would find them again.

“I don’t see a better alternative…our only other friends are far away,” thinking back to Silvermoon, Trixie once again hoped that their allies had made it out of the whole slaughter alright, “Mitter’meyer and Reuenthal are probably worried about us…”

The mention of the blonde Elf’s name made Lavitz’s eyes open, “Mitter’meyer, the Gale Wolf?”

Trixie nodded, surprised that he reacted as if he knew the man in some form. Gale Wolf rang a bell in her head for whatever reason so she nodded along, “I think so. You know him?”

He nodded, “He was one of the up and coming soldiers when my father was serving Lord Kael’thas on the behalf of Stormwind,” he closed his eyes again as he leaned back, “Every kid has their idols, and a commoner rising through the ranks with honor and valor is quite the hero to aspire to.”

“He’s a good man. We helped him out of a rough spot and he invited us over to a nice meal at his house in return. I wish everyone was as kind as him and his wife,” which made it all the weirder to Trixie that the two had not created more Mitter’meyers and Evangelines yet. He was such a devoted husband after all…

To think that without the intervention of her and Kael that he may have been brainwashed or purged made Trixie almost shudder. Silvermoon wasn’t in a great spot even before a fake Kael’thas came to ruin everyone’s day…

“I’d like to meet him one day, but I don’t see how that will happen now except on the battlefield. Even then, I wonder what would win out: his speed or my stamina?”

Trixie left her pondering to rejoin the current conversation. The idea of a man as kind as this coming to fight Mitter’meyer, another great man, did not sit right with Trixie…yet such a thing might come to be given the ongoing conflict between their races.

“I would hate to have you fight him.”

To counter the thought of war, Trixie tried looking for one of those health potions that Kael had given her. Coming across a set of red vials in the kitchen in the back of the inn gave her hope that perhaps these could treat the wounds better than simply stopping their bleeding.

As she re-entered the main room of the inn Lavitz finally spoke back, his eyes closed once again as he rested, “Aye, but isn’t that the tragedy of war? We can appreciate and honor our enemies for their merits, yet we groan and complain about our own people for their flaws.”

Trixie handed him a potion and gave a small smile. Why couldn’t their nations get along this easily?

“I suppose that’s why I don’t mind patching you up, though you’re hardly an enemy.”

“And you are doing quite well at it,” he took the entire vial in a single gulp before looking over to Trixie force feeding Kael one, “Between that and the care you showed to even an enemy, I must say you are a compassionate woman. There are few like you here in this land, and I’d reckon someone with that kind of heart would make a great wife.”

“Thank you,” Trixie blushed again from embarrassment, though she could not argue that whatever morals and values she held felt different from the norm of this land, “Perhaps one day, but right now I’m too young for something like that.”

Lavitz sighed as he thought about how old he was. Not yet thirty, he felt that he had a whole life ahead of him while at the same time as if yesterday he had been a child. Life could go by faster for some than others, and it was not a resource to be thrown away without great cause, “No-one lives forever. Life has a way of making sure of that. Take my favorite flower for example, the cherry blossom. Its beauty is greater than any other, but sadly its time in this world is short.”

The mention of cherry blossoms made Trixie’s long ears perk straight up. Ever since her sudden recollection she had the image of swirling cherry blossom petals going through her mind, but it had been in the back of her mind. Something about them calmed her, made her feel emotions long forgotten and, while she wasn’t sure that they were her favorite flower, she most certainly had an admiration for them.

Thinking more about them, Trixie could remember a particular yard with a cherry blossom tree…but the specifics evaded her. Was it home? It probably was, as she felt calm when thinking about the serene setting.

“You know, I happen to be quite a fan of those flowers as well. They are not common where I live, but I had one back home.”

“I will have to show you my own sometime. They aren’t common here either, but the Pandaren certainly have a certain beauty to their flora—”

Lavitz’s words about the Pandaren would be held for a later time as Kael lurched upward and sat straight up all the while coughing, having been force fed too much healing potion by Trixie. Not only that, his face appeared pale, like he had seen a ghost.

Trixie patted him on the back and tried to help him cough out whatever went down the wrong pipe in his throat, “Kael, are you okay?”

“I…”

He shook his head. He would not worry Trixie with the nightmare she had just accidently stirred him from.

“I’ll be fine. It was just a dream.”

Noticing that Lavitz was nearby and thus still with them, Kael looked to him and smiled.

“Lavitz...thank you.”

It’d have been impossible for Kael to save Trixie alone, and Kael found himself indebted to yet another person. He only hoped he could get to the point he wouldn’t rely on others so much, but for now he was mortal and needed others.

Lavitz shrugged it off, “No need to thank me. I owe you just as much, after all.”

Looking back to Trixie, Kael thought about something that he had been meaning to tell her about, “Trixie, Nana should be at the Saldeans’. There was a fire, so no-one is there…”

With the healing potion coursing through him, Lavitz finally had the strength to pull himself to his feet, “Well then, we should go get her before we go to Stormwind then.”

“Stormwind?”

Trixie gave Kael a nervous grin, realizing that he hadn’t heard the talk about it, “Ehh, why not? It’s not as if we can return to Silvermoon…”

That rose the curiosity of Lavitz, who had been out of the loop for months and months as far as events went, “Has something happened to Silvermoon?”

“It’s…a long story,” Kael said as a filler explanation, not really sure how much he should tell someone of another race about how utterly weak and defenseless Silvermoon was right then. After all, while Lavitz was an ally, he also had loyalties to his own King, “I’m not sure how much I should say, given the circumstances.”

Lavitz held a hand up to silence him, “I understand. I wouldn’t want to speak out of place about my own land,” he moved over to the door and opened it up, finding that the sky outside was beginning to dim as the afternoon set in, “Now, how about we find this ‘Nana’ and head to Stormwind? I want to put as much ground as possible between us and those pursuing you.”

Nana happened to be very enthusiastic about the return of Trixie, and after the two embraced (while Kael and Lavitz secured any belongings and things that should be taken along) for some time, the group headed off to a forest that bordered the edge of Westfall and led towards where Stormwind lay. Dusk set in before long, and given how the group traveled slowly on-foot they did not get too far. Trixie still felt uncomfortable transforming in front of a semi-stranger, though she now once again had pepper just in case she had to transform out of necessity.

Once they got well into the forest the sun was well on its way to setting, and while bushes nearby rustled and the occasional animal could be seen, nothing seemed particularly out to kill them just yet. This combination of factors made Lavitz stop the others, who he had been leading due to his greater familiarity with the land.

“We should camp here for the night. Stormwind is nearby, but I am afraid my legs will not be able to carry me much further.”

“I doubt Stormwind would like visitors this late anyways,” Kael joked, but it was met with a serious look from the Human rather than an amused one due to how true it was.

“No, I would suppose not.”

Using the bedding and supplies they had gathered together they managed to set up a camp of sorts while using nearby wood they managed a fire with Kael’s aid. Once everyone was settled into their temporary camp, Lavitz tried to stir up conversation with a topic he had on his mind this whole time.

“What are you two doing so far down south, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Kael pointed a thumb over in Trixie’s direction before bringing it back in to point at himself, “We’re travelers. She seeks fame and glory, while I have a more personal quest.”

“Fame, huh?” Lavitz smirked at Trixie as his mind came up with ways to fulfill her own quest, “You might happen to like the arena in Stormwind then. There is plenty to go around there.”

“I have heard of this ‘arena’ before. There is one in Stormwind?” Trixie questioned. Could this finally be the break she needed to succeed in this land?

“One of the finest. I can show you it after we meet with Lord Wrynn and stop by my house to ease my mother’s fears.”

On top of the blanket she had spread out on the ground Trixie placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head back snobbishly, “I would be most grateful for the chance to display my absolute brilliance before a crowd.”

Lavitz had taken to laying on a nice patch of grass, with his wounded leg propped up on a pile of leaves he had gathered, “Well, if you are to capture hearts and minds, now is the time to do so. Before long our people will be at each other’s throats in more open warfare rather than facing down the Illidari.”

He laid down completely and closed his eyes as he once again tried to rest. Kael had offered to be the first watch of the night and Lavitz was in no position to complain, “At least, that is, if the conflict has not escalated to greatly during my absence. Given how slow these things tend to be though I do not expect it has.”

“The Illidari? Are those Illidan’s forces?” Trixie asked, wanting to make sure she grasped the conversation’s greater context given the pieces of information she did know.

“Yes. He has gone mad from what I have last heard, and he has become a tyrant. He must be stopped before he does something drastic, as he has been known to do. One does not end up imprisoned for ten millennia for smelling flowers and skipping in meadows.”

Kael nodded, face paling slightly as he thought about what fighting Illidan’s forces meant, “And I suppose stopping him means facing down Kael’thas and the other Elves he has with him in support of Illidan.”

What was that other Kael’thas going to lead their people into, if not ruin?

“Unfortunately, yes,” Lavitz confirmed, his gaze lingering on Kael as he said so. Kael did not notice this however, as he in turn was looking to Trixie. They were exchanging glances towards Lavitz. After they came to a non-verbal agreement, Kael spoke up again.

“I do not believe you to be the sort who would abuse this knowledge, so I will pass it along to you in case it is useful…”

As her partner trailed off Trixie picked up the slack, “You see, we’re here for more than just our own reasons.”

Kael nodded over to their newest partner, who was suddenly attentive rather than dozing off, “Silvermoon was attacked by the Illidari. Red, demon powered Orcs entered the city and slaughtered those in their path.”

He intentionally left out the involvement of the pseudo-Kael to keep things from getting to weird and possibly giving himself away, but Kael had a feeling as if he had already been found out and Lavitz was allowing him to keep the secret really just as a formality.

“They were seeking some kind of power source, and they found it,” Trixie frowned as she remembered the sheer barbaric display of the forces under Kargath. Were all Orcs so brutal?

“Interesting…” Lavitz brought a hand to his chin as he pondered this development, “If so, then that means they must have something monumental planned if they are turning on their own kind.”

He looked between the two of them, “Come to think of it, an Elf was hunting you,” he stopped when his eyes reached Trixie, at which point they lingered as he continued to think about the issue, “And you were kidnapped for some kind of reward I believe. It’s surprising that the Defias was granted so many resources in such a short period of time. Someone powerful must have backed them and wanted to reward either group for your capture, yet the Defias did not seem interested in both of you.”

Everything he said checked out, and both Trixie and Kael nodded along as he spoke, but at the same time they found themselves surprised by the depths of the Warrior. He was no brute, as easily as someone of his skillset could be. Each of them was sure he would continue to keep surprising them if they let him, so they increased their expectations of him to offset future surprise.

“I can tell you both are good people, so I think we can rule out criminal activity as being the cause for your wanted status. And I think we can rule out the Alliance and the Horde as the Defias’s large benefactor as the Alliance would not side with the Defias, and the Horde would more than likely not rely on Humans to do their own task. Of course, this leaves open the opportunity that the Hunter woman worked for the Horde, but…”

Kael cut him off with a gesture. It was getting late, and the others ought to rest. He couldn’t wait for a few hours to go by and he could wake someone else to pick up his slack, at which point he could sleep off his remaining aches and pains.

“I would rather leave that discussion for tomorrow, when I’m not suffering from quite so many wounds.”

Trixie nodded as she lay down on the ground beside Kael, their shared blanket keeping her from dirtying herself on the ground, “As would I. I…have things to think about.”

Lavitz acquiesced to their desire, being quite tired himself and figuring there would always be another time to bring it up the next day, “Of course. I ought to rest myself…my spirit is tougher than my body it would seem. Now that the energy of battle has worn off me I can’t help but relax.”

It did not take long for the soldier to fall asleep, completely trusting his allies to not abandon him or rob him. Kael watched over the area for what felt like a minute but may have been more like an hour, his mind wrapped up in his nightmare from before, when Trixie’s voice interrupted him.

“Hey Kael?”

He lowered a hand to brush against her cheek. He was glad she was safe and unharmed…for the most part.

“Yes?”

Trixie took his hand in her own and squeezed it. She was mad he had been so reckless, but was happy nonetheless that he cared enough to save her.

Still, something was gnawing at her since their time in the cave. She felt like a thread was still loose from it all, like there was something to solve.

“Can we look into who killed Edwin VanCleef? You know, when we get the chance. Doesn’t have to be right away…”

The question gave Kael pause not because he was not interested in the subject of an Elf coming to Westfall and defeating the former Defias leader, but because he was quite certain he already knew the answer.

That being said, he did not feel comfortable telling Trixie, and so he deflected the subject.

“Perhaps we ought to let some tragedies just rest where they lay. Finding the man would help no-one find peace at this point.”

Trixie sighed. Kael was right, of course, as it would no longer bring Vanessa any peace, and there was no real justice to be had against an Elf who fought against a criminal.

“I suppose you are right…”

Still, what was it that Vanessa said about him again? Trixie was struggling to remember, but she felt that it had to do something with his face.

In any case, Trixie drifted off to sleep comfortable in the fact that she was surrounded by good people…and with a pet Mana Wyrm in her arms, cuddling with her as Kael looked on with envy.

Mitter’meyer watched as his closest friend seized up suddenly and let out a powerful sneeze. When Reuenthal was done with the motion, Mitter’meyer could not help but smile as the man reopened his black eye and his blue eye. It was not common to see Reuenthal break his detached, cold façade at any point and so even him doing so with a sneeze was amusing for his more impassioned friend.

To try and retain some dignity, Reuenthal cleared his throat and waxed on about something he heard in passing some time ago, his face not betraying any emotion as Mitter’meyer continued to smirk at him from across the dinner table, “It is said in some cultures that when you sneeze, it is because someone is speaking about you.”

“What a silly superstition. Where did you pick that up, the Human territories?” Mitter’meyer laughed for a moment before calming down and looking towards the kitchen, where he heard his wife finishing the final preparations for what ought to be an exquisite meal.

Reuenthal nodded in affirmation, thinking back to his time amongst the Humans in the south. He was half-Human himself, something that helped lead to his unique eyes, but he had grown up amongst Elves and so viewed the Human culture as a wholly foreign one, “Yes, I believe I did come across that odd belief there. Interesting…”

Perhaps someone there, such as their lord, was thinking of him? For whatever reason could he be doing such a thing, should the Human superstition be true?

Mitter’meyer glanced outside to where the sun was setting and sighed. He regretted not being able to help his Prince without serving as a magnet for trouble and attention given his own ranking, “I wonder how Lord Kael’thas is managing in the south?”

Reuenthal nearly finished what would be his third glass of wine that night and smirked as he thought about the possibilities, many of which did not bode too well for them, “Well enough I imagine. That woman who pursued him has not returned with his head just yet, but it could be that the weight of our lord’s skull is slowing her on her return trip.”

“Don’t say things like that,” Mitter’meyer criticized, for while not treasonous it was still almost an insult to their Prince.

To defend himself, Reuenthal proposed another possibility for his alcohol had made him more talkative, “Alternatively, he may have allied himself with some Humans and will be sending us her head, not that I would particularly care for such a gift. Where they traveled there is a cove of bandits, and though they have been cleared out before it has been some time now and they may have returned.”

Mitter’meyer relaxed as he entertained the possibility of Kael’thas befriending some Humans. There were some such as Bolvar Fordragon that could be quite formidable, and further thinking on the topic made Mitter’meyer wonder whatever happened to his old comrade’s son who was well on his way to becoming a knight, “Oh? You think he’s taken them as allies?”

Reuenthal looked down at the little remaining wine in his glass, his hand softly swirling the liquid in the glass with small movements, “Perhaps. It can play out in two different ways: one, he and his companion befriend the bandits as the bandits are opposed to Stormwind and seek its downfall much like we now do, or two, he could help out other Humans against these bandits and earn their trust. Perhaps even free some of the prisoners the bandits are prone to taking.”

Mitter’meyer sighed as he thought about how stressful that might be for their Prince. He had full faith in his ability to defeat such a small threat, but he did not wish extra hardships upon their lord like Reuenthal seemed capable of imagining, as correct as he might be, “For their sake, I hope they aren’t fighting any thieves and ruffians. Our lord has enough on his shoulders.”

When he finished speaking the sound of two plates softly gracing the surface of the table caught the attention of both men. Evangelin had snuck in while they were speaking with the first two plates of the large feast she had readied to celebrate the recent announcement that Lord Regent Lor’themar was to honor her husband and his friend for their distinguished service during the Silvermoon invasion.

“Here you are,” she stated politely before backing up and preparing to turn around to the kitchen to take the remaining platters and plates in.

Reuenthal nodded towards his friend’s wife while Mitter’meyer gleefully looked over the various foods before him like a child opening gifts.

“Thank you, Evangelin. Your skill and graciousness are unparalleled.”

She smiled to Reuenthal, but did not respond verbally. He was Mitter’meyer’s friend, and while she did not hold ill will towards him she was put-off by his aloof demeanor. Could someone who only smiled at their own misfortune truly be the best choice of friend for her husband?

Seeing them chat away at the table though, she was happy to see her husband enjoying himself. Mitter’meyer was laughing and smiling as he began to exchange old stories with his partner, and Reuenthal nodded along as his friend spoke.

For the man with the odd eyes, drinking did not free himself from the demons he felt stirring inside him: self-loathing only being the first of many. Being around a cheerful man and his loving wife contrasted so greatly to the only family life he had ever known: a bitter, abusive father and a mother who had tried killing him the day he opened his eyes to reveal her infidelity with color alone.

That night, when he fell asleep on their dining table rather unceremoniously due to cup after cup of wine, he dreamt just as Kael had earlier: only, he did not have someone to stir him from what he saw.

Author's Note

Hidden depths all around!

I wonder who defeated (not killed) Edwin VanCleef? They'd have to have knowledge of the area, be an Elf, and have mismatched eyes? Ehh, I'm sure we'll find out eventually. Bet it's some nasty lowlife too who is full of themself and did it for gold or something! :trollestia:

Hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below, and remember, this chapter's bonus section is brought to you by your loving support!

Level 19: Queens, and Kings, and Nathrezim Oh My

A/N: Special thanks to Amethyst Blade, refferee, _CheckMate_, SilentMech, and De_Koi for your comments last chapter! I've been really looking forward to this chapter for awhile now, so I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments below!

To the south-west of Silvermoon and the north of Westfall and Stormwind, the Forsaken bastion known as Undercity sat as a focal point of the continent’s conflicts: the Alliance plagued the southern region, the knight templar soldiers known the Scarlet Crusade were campaigning to Undercity’s south, and the Scourge surrounded their North and kept the Elven allies of the Forsaken holed away from the rest of the world except for their access to the seas and sky. Undercity was in a geographically precarious location, and it is little wonder that the former Human capital that it rested beneath was once taken.

The Forsaken were Undead free from the Lich King’s sway, and they were fighting an unending war on all fronts to assure that this would forever be true.

They were not the mindless sort of Undead who sought to wipe out all other species and life at the behest of their ruthless leader Arthas Menethil, who sold his soul for power. The Undead were free because of the machinations of their leader, Sylvanas Windrunner, who had been an Elven Ranger-General before the Human Prince Arthas had slain her before then going on to resurrect her to suffer further. He then ravaged her Kingdom, leading the once prideful and haughty Blood Elves to their current state of desperation.

Sylvanas would not have her new people, those risen by Arthas and stolen from his control, face the same fate as the waning Elves. Hated by many, yet given a place amongst the Horde, this was their time to stake their claim in the world.

“Varimathras, a scout has informed me that the Scarlet Crusade is gathering up its strength for an invasive campaign northwards. Seeing as how they are barely at arms reach, how do you believe we should deal with their irritating presence?”

Within the inner chambers of Undercity, Sylvanas loomed over a map of the continent her people were struggling on. Beside and partially behind her was her right-hand-man and adviser, Varimathras. When standing side by side, their difference in heights was seemingly exaggerated between him and her: Varimathras was just under ten feet tall, compared to her more average Elven height.

The reason for this was simple: Sylvanas did not employ one of her own to help her run things, but rather a grand schemer belonging to a race of grand schemers known as the Nathrezim. Known mainly for being the commanding officers in armies of demons and for their penchant for having everyone play to their plans like a fiddle, Varimathras was simply one who had been pressed into service by Sylvanas.

While he was a few feet taller, far broader, and had leathery wings that made him appear even larger by how they broadened his frame further, it was Sylvanas who was the one in power. Varimathras did not stay because he particularly cared for his scheming, conniving boss who reminded him too much of himself, but because he had no choice in the matter.

The demon Nathrezim, known to some colloquially as a dreadlord, responded to her inquiry with a look so as to say it was no major issue, “I do not believe them to a threat to our prolonged existence. They seek to wipe out Arthas, and while misguided in also confronting your forces milady, I believe it best to leave them be and let them wear down the strength of the Lich King.”

“When they are pressing at our borders and whittling what little strength we have away?” Sylvanas narrowed her eyes at her servant, not fearing his claws and fangs for a second as she stared him down, “Where is your sense of urgency, Varimathras? I do not remember you acting this cumbersome in thought or action when I was destroying your forces and brought you to heel.”

Varimathras snorted, the dreadlord equal parts irritated by her reminder of his defeat and amused by how she seemed to be the desperate one for once given her own words.

“Of course not, for my life depended on my acting in haste, just as I did not hesitate to slay my own brother Balnazzar when the time came for it and you gave me no choice, even if doing so broke the most sacred rule to my kind. Different situations call for different approaches.”

He remembered well the day that Sylvanas asked of him to slay his own brother, Balnazzar. Varimathras had little say in the matter, and while he initially protested he did strike at his brother in the end. Being told to slay the Human Garithos moments later helped better his mood, but it did little to save Balnazzar’s honor or spare Varimathras’s pride.

“Ahh, yes, you Nathrezim and your vows to not slay one another…” Sylvanas grinned to herself as she finished looking over the map only to then look up at him with a glint in her eye, “How quickly you would forsake your values for your own life, Varimathras.”

Varimathras hoped her seeing him strike his brother down and the older dreadlord vanishing in a flash of smoke satisfied her of his loyalty to her. She had said it would be the last test of his loyalty, but he could never be too sure if that was the truth. Of course his loyalty was not absolute, how could it be? But to needle him about his seeming spinelessness would not make him shape up and change: he made his choice back then, and he stood by it.

When he did not respond to her verbal jab, the Forsaken leader went back to looking over the map and ran a finger over the space separating the Alliance territory and their own, “The Scarlet Crusade is close enough to the Alliance to put them at risk as well. You are a skilled manipulator, would you mind to have them clean up this mess for us?”

Her adviser paused as he looked over the markings concerning the Scarlet Crusade’s presence, and after mulling over how to use this opportunity best he spoke up in a cautious tone, “Perhaps I can persuade them to attack an outpost of the Scarlet Crusade, but I am afraid their attentions may still largely remain on the rising Illidari threat.”

While normally demanding and expecting the best from her followers, Sylvanas was not deluded. She too knew the threat of dealing with Outland and the Burning Legion, and the threat of those who were strong enough to resist the Legion on their own such as the Illidari. If the conflict with the Illidari was to increase into a full scale invasion and war on the parts of both the Alliance and Horde, she could not discount how this would divert attentions from their own lands.

“I suppose that cannot be helped. Have it done, Varimathras. That King Wrynn is a soldier, not a leader. It is about time the world learns the difference.”

With that Sylvanas stood up straight and turned to leave the room, leaving Varimathras behind and alone in the room. He watched as she left, giving her a respectful nod as he did so.

“Of course, my lady.”

Sylvanas gone without another word, he snorted and began to look over the map again. His eyes focused on the Scarlet Crusade with a mixture of apprehension and weariness. He was a schemer, and it had taken him some great effort to keep the Forsaken from completely overcoming the pesky organization. Sylvanas herself could wipe out a great many of them, but should she fall her people would too and so she did not take to the field as often as she once had.

So it was up to Varimathras to be effective enough to earn his keep, while be ineffective enough to keep her from succeeding at the rate she had previously been accustomed to. Just as Arthas had defeated her and sought to make her suffer once, she now had Varimathras under her own thumb and the pale demon despised it.

He tapped his finger on the Scarlet Monastery, once bastion of Lordaeron’s priesthood and a center for learning and enlightenment, now a stronghold for the xenophobic fanatics seeking to root out the Undead and all who knowingly or unknowingly may aid them…that is, fuel the Scourge’s armies by dying.

“Wiping them out would be easy with any coordinated effort given their lack of friends in this world…” he withdrew his hand and thought of his brothers. Balnazzar was always the strongest of them, as well as the one who seemed to always have a plan. Their other brother Detheroc was the one with the greatest psychic powers, capable of mind control and illusions both, leaving Varimathras to be the one who got by with his mixture of talents, talents he would not dare utilize at full for the sake of Sylvanas, “But that would be beneficial to you, my lady, and Balnazzar would be forever perturbed by my sudden usefulness to the witch who saw him slain.”

Balnazzar was the eldest brother in their family and the one most concerned with duty and their own warped honor. If not for his guidance and skill at commanding, the trio of dreadlords would have been defeated ages ago…but even he had met his match in facing Sylvanas. Now their family name held no value, they had fallen from respected Nathrezim to among the lowest for their failure to enact the Legion’s will, and Varimathras would not let that continue. He owed it to each of his brothers who he helped bring down for Sylvanas.

After all, he might have betrayed them for his own life, but how could he ever enact his revenge if he was slain? Balnazzar understood that concept quite well. They all had.

“My lord, there is a messenger from Silvermoon requesting aid to help at their borders.”

It took a moment for Varimathras to even notice he had been spoken to. Some Forsaken wretch was the one to stir him from his thoughts. Their body was in permanent limbo between life and death, possessing flesh atop its bone but entire chunks were missing in grotesque fashion.

The beings disgusted the dreadlord, but they were the beings at his disposal so he would use them like he would an Imp or a mindless Voidwalker: to enact his will and nothing more. He was not attached to their plight nor their history. Each of the animated corpses looked the same to him, and he awaited the day he would never have to see their wretched appearance again. He had enough with the Undead when he and the others helped lead the Scourge before it was stolen away from them by the Lich King.

Thinking over the message conveyed though, Varimathras decided that this was another good way to squander resources while outwardly doing as his master would wish of him, “Give them whatever pittance is needed to keep their people from being overrun by the Scourge. We cannot allow it to progress any further in this land if we are to one day overcome Arthas as is needed for our survival, and for the revenge of Lady Sylvanas.”

Our revenge.

After camping the night in the forest, Trixie and the others approached Stormwind with some haste. They were not sure if they were still being hunted, so they sought it as a safe refuge from the Hunter and her associates.

The city was a massive fortress, with walls multiple stories tall and the outward appearance of a mighty castle from the outside. Not a boxy one, but a sprawling sort that held many different strongholds and structures in its sprawling landscape.

Entering was not as simple as they had hoped, as the sight of two Elves made the guards at the gate prepare their weapons and yell that they were under attack, but the moment they noticed that the ill-fed man leading them towards the city was one of their own Captains they quieted down immediately.

The front of the city was so crowded with random Humans that Trixie actually had trouble observing the surroundings since it was packed person to person as everyone stood about engaging in trade, chat, and the occasional fight over something trivial. With the guidance of Lavitz though they managed to fight through the crowds and get to the front of the building that served as the command center and true castle of Stormwind.

The setup of it was ideally suited for defense, with a sloped hill leading up to the structure and the path would be a literal uphill battle for intruders. Guards stood posted along it, but they seemed lax as they watched the day go about. Such laxness seemed to show that they were either unused to combat, or so sure of themselves that they did not fear a sudden ambush, both of which put the Elf duo at ease because both instances meant they were not likely to come into any harm here.

Lavitz had insisted they go straight to the King, and while Kael and Trixie each thought that this meant the soldier would speak with the King while they were entertained elsewhere, they were surprised to find that they were led straight to the leader himself where he stood straight down the entrance hallway of the stone fortress.

The lord of Stormwind was a tall man with dark brown hair that flared back into a wild ponytail. He wore the full armor of a warrior, though its faded steel blue and bronze was shaped in intricate rather than functional manners to give it an impressive look while seeming impractical. Further solidifying his intimidating warrior presence was a sword at his side that was as big as Trixie was wide and about half her height.

The place the King was sitting was a throne placed in a circular hallway that met the one Trixie and Kael were being led up by their new party member, and while the trio did not take a detour around the curved hallway they could see that it led to at least two other sections of the building. It was doughnut shaped, or rather an inverse donut because the open section was the ring and the solid space was the inner piece. At the closest point of the inner piece rest the throne, from which King Varian Wrynn looked upon the three.

Once they reached the man Lavitz knelt down before him, shame appearing on the soldier’s face as he began to lament about his absence from duty.

“Lord Wrynn. I return from the field, and I apologize for having been unable to fulfill my duties these past months.”

Wrynn scoffed before gesturing for Lavitz to get up, his eyes having been locked on his returning soldier the whole time because he was so relieved to see him well and alive. Due to this the fact that Lavitz was followed by two others, Elves even, barely registered with him beyond noticing they exist.

Hoping not to offend, Trixie and Kael each knelt down as well. They wouldn’t want to upset someone who could just have them executed at any moment after all, and as they knelt Trixie kept glancing at Kael as her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Would the King recognize Kael? That could be…disastrous.

“Rise off those knees, Lavitz. You should all make yourselves comfortable now that you are among friends,” he stood up to place a hand on Lavitz’s shoulder, the King being taller than his soldier by a good degree due to Lavitz’s average height and the King’s large figure, “Anduin was worried, and it was hard explaining to him what may have befallen you. I am glad you have returned safely. You can rest and recover as long as you need before returning to duty.”

The modest knight lowered his head graciously, "Your majesty, it is more than I deserve."

A dark haired woman in red and white cloth robes standing a few feet to the side of the throne spoke up, making her presence known to the group who had been so in awe of the King that they hadn’t even noticed her yet, "It's true that your presence was missed. Anduin was bawling for quite some time for his favorite guard to return."

The King of Stormwind laughed as he held a hand out towards her while using the other to give one last reassuring pat to his soldier, "Oh Lady Prestor, no need to tease my son such. Lavitz is an old friend to us all, much as his family has been throughout the years,” he turned back to face Lavitz, curiosity forming on the King’s face and reducing his intimidating look, “Anyways, I would like to hear from you about where you may have been. What could have kept a master of martial arts such as yourself busy for so long?"

"After my forces were wiped out in an ambush by the leaders of the reborn Defias Brotherhood, I was taken captive and held against my will in the Deadmines."

Wrynn scrunched his thick eyebrows, obviously surprised by the revelation that the cause was none other than the Defias, "The Deadmines? They recovered from VanCleef's defeat already?"

Lavitz nodded before gesturing back to the still kneeling Elves, "Yes, however, thanks to this man and his partner I managed to break out as well as defeat the Brotherhood once again. Let me introduce these people to you. Kael and Trixie."

The King approached the two and silently gestured for them to rise. This done, he held a hand out to each of them one at a time to shake them in recognition of their deeds, "I thank you for both saving Lavitz and defeating the Brotherhood. If there is any way I might be able to repay our debt to you, you need only ask."

Trixie gave the King a polite curtsy and smiled at him, though she said little more than “Thank you, Lord Wrynn” as she had his attention upon her. As he turned to face Kael, he received a different response.

Kael had measured the immediate reaction of Varian to looking him in the eye, and when the King paused briefly upon observing his face Kael made a quick decision based on the seeming recognition.

“Then, perhaps if I may be so bold, I will cut to the chase.”

Kael bowed in a grandiose fashion while gesturing to himself, a smile upon his face as he made a proclamation even bolder than he had alluded to.

“My name is Kael’thas Sunstrider, crown Prince of the Blood Elves.”

The response was…less than positive.

“Guards!”

Varian himself grabbed Kael by the throat in a flash far faster than Kael or Trixie could keep up with. He lifted Kael off his feet while an entire retinue of soldiers surrounded the area with weapons drawn. Trixie had taken a step back in surprise, but Lavitz batted one of her hands down as it had instinctively taken on a glow: Trixie had nearly retaliated without thinking, and saving a soldier’s life could not outweigh an attempted assassination attempt on a King, accident or not.

Kael took it all in stride, having fully expected this reaction, “Before we get too hasty, I would like to speak. I do not come here as an enemy…”

Wrynn glared at Kael, becoming far more fearsome as he finally was trying to be: his sword was drawn and prepared to gut the man in his hands, but even the Warrior man knew not to act that quickly. He would hear this man out first, and if he didn’t like what he had to say…

“Why should I not have you executed right here and now for everything you have done?”

Kael continued to smile at the King, his mouth more in a smirk than an actual smile. Trixie watched in horror as he spoke again, while Lavitz watched with some anxiety of his own. These people had saved him, and while their races were at war he had no personal quarrel with Kael. He had been quite sure the entire time of who was helping him escape the Deadmines, but he had initially chalked it up to simply seeing things brought upon by weeks of starvation.

Now, his King was nearly about to kill a would-be King who had once been an ally to them, and who Lavitz now owned his life. While Trixie was wholly fearful for her closest friend and companion, she, Mitter’meyer and Reuenthal were no longer the only ones concerned for the Prince’s safety.

“I believe I have shown considerable good faith towards you and your people these past days. Would you so readily kill someone who seeks to make amends for the past? Slaying those who display kindness and lend aid to you will not make you many friends in the future.”

Kael’s words gave Varian further pause. Off to the side Lady Prestor watched with great interest, her eyes darting back and forth as she took mental notes about the situation.

Given that Wrynn did not respond in the first few seconds after Kael had spoken, Kael took the chance to throw out another piece of information that might stall his execution sentence, “And, I am not the man you think I am.”

Varian stared at Kael intently as he slowly lowered him to the ground and let go of his neck, only for two soldiers to then seize Kael’s arms, “Explain yourself, Elf, and do so quickly. I am not known for my patience.”

If Kael was going to start playing this political game, he had to start somewhere…and beginning with a possible endorsement by a King, even an enemy King, couldn’t hurt, so he spoke candidly.

“I have been usurped by someone pretending to be me, someone who wishes to use my station to enact an as of yet undetermined plot. Cut off from my people and not the one currently behind their reigns, I am a political refugee who is seeking to usurp the throne of the man who has usurped it from me. As I hope my actions will have shown, I am here respectfully and not at all as your enemy.”

Varian took a hand to his own chin, and while he thought about the issue Lady Prestor moved in to whisper in his ear. He nodded after a moment and held up his sword to Kael’s neck.

“If what you say is true, then prove yourself to be the true Kael’thas. Now, lest I carve you open and find out for myself what you are.”

Trixie moved to open her mouth, but a wink from Kael caused her voice to catch in her throat. He was sure that her, an Elf, speaking to his credentials would be taken lightly…but not the other person who he knew would speak up.

“My lord, if I may speak on his behalf?”

Kael then turned to someone he had come to trust with his life in the past day: Lavitz, now standing to the side of Kael and with an arm in front of him in a protective manner.

Lavitz had taken Kael for an ally near instantly, and so Kael was giving the man whose instincts seemed quite keen the court to speak on his behalf.

This was the true gamble Kael had planned on making when he came up with his plan to reveal his identity: whether or not Lavitz would succeed at convincing the King. After all, what kind of idiot would just gut him without asking any questions? Varian might be a soldier, but he wasn’t an axe crazy murderer…

No, he wasn’t, Kael could already tell. This man was different entirely from that bastard Garithos who Kael had dreamed of the night before.

At that time, he did not know that he would soon cross paths with that of the one who killed Garithos as the start of one quest ran parallel to years of conspiracy and cunning.

Author's Note

A/N: Hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Got to include some people I've wanted to use for quite some time!

Level 20: Miss Communication

A/N: Special thanks to refferee, SilentMech, nioniosbbbb, Quixotic Enigma, Freya, and thatguy45 for your comments last chapter!

I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments below! Really could use the support now!

“Your wish to speak for him?”

Lavitz nodded silently, his eyes averted to the ground as he knelt before his lord. While the soldier knew this could be considered an act of defiance, he had already decided that he had to do everything he could for the Elven Lord whose act of bravery had both felled the Defias and saved the soldier’s life.

The fact that a respected soldier was willing to stand up for the supposed real Kael’thas Sunstrider had an impact on Varian, who calmed down and let Kael’thas go.

“Very well.”

Trixie rushed to Kael’s side and helped him recover from being lifted and promptly dropped, but once he was steady they turned their attention to their Warrior friend. The King took his seat while Lavitz stood back up and saluted his lord and finally looked him in the eye again with a determined gaze.

“With my experience, I wholly believe this man to be the true Sunstrider heir. He has displayed the selflessness and determination that my father used to describe the Lord of the Elves, and no wicked or selfish man I know would have gone to the lengths he has to do such commendable deeds as he has. He will be a hero to Westfall now, and, while I do not know of this other being he says has taken his place, I can say with conviction that this man is who he says he is.”

Kael felt his shoulders sag a little in relaxation as he realized that he just may be able to pull out of this thanks to his newfound companion. Trixie, standing beside him, had her unconscious grip on his arm loosen as she heard Lavitz speak. He had known them for such a brief period of time, but his gratitude was genuine and his intuition seemingly quick on the mark…she was actually kind of disappointed that he was a soldier of Stormwind and that they wouldn’t be able to take him with them.

While Reuenthal and Mitter’meyer would be too high-profile to accompany them given their collective duties, Lavitz had already been missing for months and no doubt had been replaced in his absence.

The King seemed to take his soldier’s words to heart, as he nodded along as Lavitz spoke and his hawkish gaze made it seem as if he was mulling over every word.

“Very well then,” Wrynn looked to Kael with a piercing stare, “Sunstrider, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Upon having heard reports of Silvermoon being assaulted by Fel Orcs under the leadership of that brute Kargath and his handler, the traitorous Kael’thas Sunstrider, I have good reason to distrust your name. Few are more deplorable than those who, in power, would betray the trust of their country and people for their own personal desires.”

Trixie returned the fierce expression, not that any eyes were on her at the moment: she felt a need to be an idol in her own right, but of course she had partnered with someone who eclipsed her by merely existing…but hopefully that would change when she proved her mettle in the previously mentioned “Arena”.

Varian looked over to his adviser Lady Prestor and then back to Kael when she gave the King a small nod. Before he could continue his decree, Lavitz spoke up once again to try and affirm the point of Kael’s identity.

“This being said, I have absolutely no doubt that the other Kael’thas is a fraud who is a pale imitation of the one I have known through my father. While at times desperate and willing to do anything for his people, Kael’thas Sunstrider would never have turned on them. They were his life, and every decision he made was for their sake.”

The selfless behavior proscribed made Kael feel sick to his stomach about the events of Silvermoon City. Kael had wanted to do something, but people far more powerful than he were slain without remorse…he had run, and now he was playing politics to buy himself more time. Outside survival, what did he even truly want? To return to the throne he was seemingly removed from?

Kael looked to his side, where Trixie was still gripping his arm without her even seemingly noticing it. She was the one who longed for something, and because of his own baggage she continually had to put her own quest on hold…but she would not leave his side, he could tell that much by this point. She was a lonely soul who needed someone else even if she did not say so out loud, and so perhaps he could be content to merely give her that companionship.

He moved a hand to touch where hers was gripping his arm, and she relaxed at his touch while also slightly jumping at the sudden contact since she had not realized her own, “I was there when he appeared in Silvermoon. Fortunately I managed to slip by unnoticed thanks to the aid of some loyalists, but I am afraid I do not know of the outcome of the invasion. It would have been certain death for me to confront them all in my current condition, that of a man whose powers have been stripped from him both politically and in magical ability.”

“So then, why do you come before me today, Sunstrider? Our people are no longer allied. I have no obligation to put you back on your throne.”

Kael wanted to say by accident, not expecting the King to be at the very front of the castle, but that would cause him to lose face and appear a liar and fraud.

In the second it took Kael to formulate a response Trixie spoke up instead, “No. You don’t. But who would you rather have in power: a man who kills his own kind and abuses his power for nefarious reasons, or a man who is indebted to you and desires to make peace, even despite the wrongs your people have wrought upon our own under the reigns of Garithos?”

Mentioning the wrongs inflicted upon the Elves by the Humans years ago seemed to leave its mark on the King, who gained a visage of sorrow as his mind turned back to that dreadful conflict. Seeking to bank on this feeling, Kael followed up on Trixie’s momentum.

“You can make right what was set wrong years ago. I do not wish for war with anyone, especially not those who until recently were our allies.”

The Warrior King nodded blankly and sunk back in his seat as he finished mulling over the past. Once his mind was set straight he stood up again and approached them, offering a gauntlet-covered hand to Kael for a handshake, “If you are serious about your supposed noble intentions, I will give you a task. Succeed, and I will consider you a man of honor who can be negotiated with without prejudice or distrust. Fail, and you are not the Kael’thas that once could ward off armies of the Scourge to protect his people.”

Kael hesitated to return the extended hand at first, not knowing what he was about to sign on to, but he realized that he really did not have any other option and to avoid being rude he took the hand in his own. The King’s grip was like that of a bear, and while Kael tried to not appear weak by using all of the strength he could muster in return, he could tell that the King was not even trying to be firm in his grip.

“And this quest you ask of us?”

Varian smiled at Kael and let go, to the Elf’s silent comfort and relief, “There is an organization that has plagued this land in recent years, known as the Scarlet Crusade. They seek to wipe out the Undead, no matter what form it takes, and to do this they have waged a war on the world itself. They are enemies to all, and they divide the strength of my people by diverting them to this secondary cause.”

The King turned back to his guards and gestured them to come closer. This done, he looked back to Kael.

“Until you are to leave for the task, you will stay here under our care.”

“No.”

Kael felt his eyes widen in fear as he realized the noise had come from beside him from none other than Trixie. He knew she could be obstinate, but to speak against a King…

Varian gave Trixie a wary look, his previous apprehension now beginning to turn towards her, “You have something to say, Miss?”

Unlike everyone else in the room, Trixie did not seem to give a damn that she was being glared at by royalty. Perhaps it was haughty arrogance and perhaps it was a result of her shock from the Defias events, but no matter what it was born from she would not give this man an inch if she could so help it.

“You may claim it is for his protection, but ordering him to stay here sounds awfully like imprisonment, especially given that we have no way of knowing you’ll ever let him leave,” Trixie scoffed as she gestured to Kael, “What do you think he is going to do if you just let him go? Take over all of Stormwind without an army? He is no threat, so you needn’t fear him.”

“You really do care,” Kael joked under his breath, and the implications were not lost upon Trixie who instantly scoffed at him as well.

“I just hate uppity people who think they can just have their way because of who they are. Guards do this, servants do that,” sensing the coming outburst from Varian, Trixie gave him a smug smile and a polite bow, “And I know your Grace is not some bureaucrat who just bosses others around for no reason, so I see no reason for one King to tell another what to do.”

Varian was not ready for that day. He looked on at the two Elves with a mixture of anger, confusion, and admiration. He had half a mind to have the wench punished for her tongue, but he could sense that there truly was a bond between the two…whatever it may be. Last he heard, Kael’thas was hopelessly smitten with Jaina…fortunately she was not directly in that room at the time or else things might become awkward.

Jailing the consort/partner/whatever she was of a possible future allied King…that would be less than diplomatic, even if she was smug and very jail-able.

Continuing her audacious declaration, Trixie remained as hammy as she could in order to keep the befuddlement of the King going, “So you can’t have him. Kael and I have an agreement. A contract of sorts, and he will be accompanying me to fulfill his agreement with me just as he will fulfill his new one to you.”

Her words finished, Varian began weighing the risks of letting Kael go out on the streets against the political scandal if he was found out to be keeping the Elven Prince seemingly ‘hostage’…and the scandal if Kael was murdered on the streets.

“Is this true, Sunstrider?”

Kael nodded, not knowing what to say without appearing emasculated given Trixie’s near claim of ownership of him.

Her claim confirmed, Varian decided he would have someone cure him of his growing headache when this was over so he could think clearly. He had been having them more recently, and this was certainly one of those occasions.

Still, he would not let her have the last laugh, and he decided to show her that he was being very forgiving of her behavior, “I can just have you imprisoned for daring to tell a King what to do.”

Trixie shrugged as she lifted her nose up and struck a nonchalant pose, “I tell an uncrowned King what to do every day. What’s one more?”

That actually made Varian laugh even as Kael’s head hung down in shame, the Prince only comforted by Lavitz who was laughing as well but also patting the poor man on the back.

“What is your name, Elf? I care to know who dares cross a King with such boldness.”

Trixie gave a curtsy to him, pleased with her own performance, “Trixie Lulamoon. Not a household name yet, but I intend to change that soon.”

“A fame-seeker, I see,” the King nodded as if he suddenly understood her, “If you destroy a sizeable portion of the Scarlet Crusade you will surely receive the fame you seek.”

“I don’t think so. I am not a killer. I am not some mercenary-rabid dog you can point at others and watch as they are ripped to tatters. So no.”

“Trixie,” Kael grit his teeth. She was getting away with a lot, but he did not want her to push the envelope too far.

Fortunately, Trixie was not turning down the request, merely shifting the goals, “If these people truly are a menace, we will deal with them accordingly. I will not murder for you, but when I return with your task of defeating them accomplished.”

“You believe you can defeat the Scarlet Crusade without shedding blood?” Varian snorted derisively, “I apologize, but perhaps I expected too much of you. You are clearly insane.”

“I ask that you remember that when we return,” Trixie bowed once again, “Now, returning to an earlier matter, I know that you may be willing to reward us for our conflict with the Defias, but we graciously refuse any direct compensation for the deed.”

While he was ready to write her off as a crazy fancy of the Elven Prince, her words struck the Warrior and made his amusement halt. She was refusing to be rewarded? For what ulterior motive?

“Oh?”

Truth be told, Trixie did not believe profiting off the death of the unfortunate souls who had come to rebel against Stormwind would be a moral thing to do. She did not regret escaping them, but she would not walk in the footsteps of the amoral Humans who had defeated the Brotherhood the first time.

Still, to not appear weak, Trixie would leave out that detail. She knew not if the King would be receptive to any Brotherhood sympathies, so she dared not test it when she was already on thin ice.

“I will spare you the reasons, but I only ask that you provide us with reparations for the damage incurred upon our persons. Not a reward, just a gift to assist your newfound allies.”

Clothes, supplies…things they would need to accomplish his given quest, and things that Trixie would very much like to have. Not exactly a net gain given how things turned out, so it was not payment so much as it was what she said: reparations for what they endured.

Lady Prestor leaned in to whisper to the King’s ear and he reacted by sighing and turning his attention to one of the corridors leading away from the throne. After she finished he turned back to Kael and Trixie.

“You two are free to leave. I will have an agent of mine supply you with information, and your lost and damaged belongings will be replaced. I have other matters to attend to,” he began to leave with his adviser, “See to it that you stay low, Sunstrider, and do not linger long enough for others to identify you. Your secret is safe within our walls, but outside…”

Before he could get far, he was interrupted by the sound of metal clanking on the ground as a soldier hastily knelt down.

“My lord, if I may, I would like to accompany Lord Sunstrider.”

Varian turned back to see his newly returned soldier kneeling before him once again. The sudden request took the King by surprise, as he had expected Lavitz to actually follow him while the other two would leave. For the man to ask permission to chaperone the Prince…Varian was once again caught off guard.

Despite the man’s wishes though, the King did not believe it to be a wise decision, “You are in no condition to serve as a soldier, Lavitz. You ought to rest and recover.”

Lavitz continued to bow his head as both Kael and Trixie beside him tried to hide their joy, “I may not be able to serve on the frontlines of our conflict as-is, but I believe myself capable of confronting the Scarlet Crusade and any interlopers who may interfere. I can travel with these two and regain my strength along the path, and then return to service when I am able enough to do so. I believe that protecting him until he can resume his mantle as Lord of the Blood Elves will serve in Stormwind’s best interests, as having the aforementioned tyrant left unchecked will lead us to more conflict, and further unnecessary bloodshed will not do our people any good.”

Lady Prestor gestured to the path Varian had been on, trying to urge this conversation along, “My King, the war council is meeting now. We should not delay.”

“Very well,” Wrynn sighed as he shook his head and then smiled to his dutiful servant now asking permission to leave, “Lavitz, you have my permission to accompany them. I will have details on the Scarlet Crusade drafted so you can confront them with foreknowledge, so do not leave too soon. Visit your mother perhaps.”

“Thank you my lord.”

Before Varian moved to leave again he gave one last look to Trixie and Kael, his look earnest, “Good luck. I mean that.”

With the King departed and the guards and Lady Prestor following him, that left the trio who had escaped the Defias mostly alone except for guards posted further down the hallways and by where they came in. Free to then talk, Lavitz turned to face the others with a grin on his face. Kael quietly thanked him for joining them with a nod, while Trixie gave the soldier a brief hug in thanks.

“Now, we have some time before we head out, but we should not dawdle too long as my Lord warned. Still, some time is needed, so there are item shops, weapon shops, and my home of course!” the soldier’s face lit up as he thought about his home, his blonde hair not nearly as radiant as his face as he beamed, “Please meet my mother! She will be happy to see you because she hasn't had guests for a while, I reckon!"

Trixie gave a soft laugh as she felt her stomach rumble, “I sure could use a good rest and meal after everything.”

Kael nodded, agreeing that stopping by the soldier’s house would be a good choice for them, “Let us go there first, then.”

The trio left behind the modest throne and returned to the entrance where they could leave for the rest of the town.

“Lord Wrynn, I am unsure about—wait, is that…”

A woman with blonde hair was rushing towards where the War Council was meeting when she caught sight of someone leaving the castle.

“K-Kael?”

The Prince did not hear her, instead laughing as he and Lavitz joked about Trixie’s near suicidal approach to speaking to Wrynn. Trixie, who was a couple feet behind the two fast friends, did hear the woman’s voice though and turned to face where it came from.

Eyes glowing of magic, blonde hair, the clothes of a Mage, being Human, and knowing Kael…

Trixie was not quite sure, but she had a feeling she was looking at the “Jaina” she had been told about. The one who had spurned Kael to instead court the evil Prince Arthas.

“Kael, wait!”

Trixie turned back around and hurried to catch up with the other two, making no mention of the woman calling after them as they all soon slipped into Stormwind’s heavily crowded streets.

It took some time, but it was not even mid-day when the three arrived at a comfortable looking home that was away from the main commotion of the city. Fortunately with all the people rushing by it had been easy for the two Elves to hide in plain sight, as they were not doing anything to draw attention to themselves and the common people likely could not tell the difference between a High Elf and a Blood Elf like many others so those that did notice a long ear or a glowing pair of eyes did not pay much mind to them.

The front door was unlocked when they returned, and the ecstatic soldier barged in just as happily as Trixie was sure Mitter’meyer had been when he had returned home after his capture and torture. The two Elves followed meekly in behind him, being the guests, each observing the inner portion of the house as they entered.

"Mom! I'm home!"

The thought that this was the fearsome Warrior who could display superhuman stamina and strength made both Trixie and Kael share a glance of amusement, but they kept quiet to not rain on his parade.

The inside of the house was similar to its outside: nice and comfortable, with a great deal of things to make it cozy though it was not the largest. Overall it appeared to be a less refined version of Mitter’meyer’s home, which had magic here and there to aid with common things such as light sources, while this one had no such arcane trinkets.

A woman who looked to be past her prime yet not ancient rushed out into the house’s foyer, where she took no time to hug her son, "Oh Lavitz! I’m so glad you’re home! I was worried because I didn't hear from you for such a long time!"

"The Horde’s resistance was tougher than I thought. But don't worry. We defeated them!" Lavitz lied with a laugh, his absolutely beaming face not betraying the fact that he was hiding the truth.

His mother let him go and took a step back to look at him, "Your late father would be proud to hear that."

"Lavitz, what about the Deadmines?" Kael questioned, not instantly getting why Lavitz was bringing up the Horde instead of the Defias.

“Don't mention that to her!” Trixie harshly whispered back in a low enough voice that Lavitz’s mother could not hear.

Lavitz turned back to face them and whispered as well, “Sorry, but I don't want her to be worried, so let’s not bring that or your real identity up,” he gestured back to Kael and laughed it off, "I don't know what he is talking about."

"Well, fine. I am already happy just having you come home, but...”

It was then that Lavitz realized that the attention had moved off of him and onto Trixie, who stood behind him and to his right with Kael to her own right.

“You brought a bride with you! My wonderful son!"

Kael laughed, Trixie blanched, and Lavitz blushed as he tried to cut his mother off from hugging Trixie too.

"Mom! She is not!"

"Oh, don't be shy. What's your name?" the friendly woman asked Trixie, who was still caught off guard by the sudden proclamation born of ignorance.

“T—Trixie, ma’am.”

Her son’s declaration did not deter Lavitz’s mother from thinking what she wanted to think, "Trixie, my son is a little awkward and stubborn. But he is very sweet natured."

Kael calmed down from his laughter and shook his head, “He is, but I’m afraid to say they are not together.”

Lavitz guided Trixie with a hand so that she was standing next to her original partner, "He is right. She is Kael’s sweetheart."

"He—Hey!! When did I become Kael’s—"

Kael cut his flustered partner off and wrapped an arm around her, seeing already that the only way that they could convince this overbearing mother that Trixie was not Lavitz’s wife was that she was someone else’s, "It's true. I...I am Trixie’s partner."

"Wha…I…” Trixie gawked. She understood what the two were doing, but she was still overwhelmed by suddenly having her relationship fake-upgraded with her close friend.

That all seemed to get through to Lavitz’s mother, as she bowed her head in apology, "Oh! Please excuse me. Take good care of Trixie."

Trixie blushed as she realized she was now stuck in a fake relationship with Kael…again, "Well...I, I don't know what to say…” she glanced at Lavitz and whispered again, “What’s going on?”

He shook his head solemnly as he responded quietly, “Once my mom gets an idea into her head, that's the end. That's the only way we can manage her.”

"Lavitz, please find somebody like her so that I can hold a grandchild in my arms. You are not a child anymore."

He held his hands up in protestation, embarrassed that she was being like this in front of company, "Yeah, I know, I know."

"And, you'll stay here today, honey?" his mother requested.

Lavitz sighed and shook his head, "Well, I was commanded to confront the Scarlet Crusade so I have to leave as soon as...."

His mother, the former wife of a soldier and the mother of one, nodded in understanding even if it made her sad that she could not spend much more time with him, "Oh well, I understand. But you can have at least lunch, can't you? It'll be ready soon, honey, and there is enough for everyone."

Trixie smiled and followed after the woman as she head towards the back of the house where a kitchen was. She had helped Evangeline before, so she thought herself capable of helping once again in thanks for receiving a free meal, "I'll give you a hand!"

"Oh, there's no need....” the hostess paused as she thought for a moment, only to then come up with a thought that made sense to only her, “But, then again, maybe..."

"It would be my pleasure," Trixie offered, and that settled the matter, leaving both Kael and Lavitz alone in the foyer. Seeing Trixie leave made Kael feel guilty, since he didn’t want to make Trixie do all the helping since they were both guests.

"Shall we help them?"

Lavitz turned to him and tilted his head, "Can you cook?"

“Not really yet, but I am good with fire…”

That was enough to get Lavitz shaking his head, “Let us leave the cooking to them then. I’m sure she is better than you.”

Kael snorted as he thought of Trixie’s eating habits, “If you only want to eat bread, I am sure you’re right. How about we take a nap then while we wait?”

“…”

“What? I sense I am being judged.”

“Kael, act like man.”

“Hey, getting enough sleep is important for your health and even your skin!”

“…no. Any other great ideas? Practicing with our weapons in the middle of this hallway?”

“Sure. You have any spare spears in the back you can use instead of the shoddy one you picked up?”

“You’re hopeless.”

Elsewhere on the continent, someone else was busy finishing their own lunch when a knock on their door stole their attention from the meal. She turned around to see that her open door had an elderly but physically strong man standing in its wake.

“High General Abbendis,” the man politely greeted before giving her a small nod.

She smiled as she turned around to face the man who had helped her and her father start this crusade against the Undead, “Grand Crusader Dathrohan, what brings you to me today?”

“Is it such a travesty to visit an old friend?” the man smiled at her as he moved from the doorway to take a seat across from her.

Slightly embarrassed, Abbendis smiled at the old man who did not look a day older than he had in the Third War, “Of course not. You are a friend to me as much as you were my father. What may I do for you?”

The Old Man nodded and got right to business now that he was prompted a second time. Since her father’s passing Abbendis had taken to listening to other founding members of the Scarlet Crusade for wisdom, and among them Dathrohan appeared to be the smartest. She could not always remember him being like that, but perhaps in the early years of the Crusade he had simply been overshadowed and unable to display his absolute brilliance.

Whatever he had to say had a great purpose, so she listened readily.

“My scouts have reported that Undercity has planned an offensive against our frontlines, diverting effort into gaining ground rather than keeping it. I believe it would be wrong for us to withhold so many troops when they can better serve our cause elsewhere.”

They had multiple fortresses and their forces were not exactly held tightly. They were spread thinner than High General Abbendis would have liked, but she did not want to lose ground and so she had her forces hold their ground and only seize new ground whenever Dathrohan had some great plan that would go off flawlessly.

Still, his suggestion went against her common sense. She knew personally that she was more of a Warrior than a tactician, but she was by no means inept, “But that would leave us open to attack from the Alliance.”

He nodded but offered a quick counter-point, “We can deal with that if that comes to be an issue, but first we must prevent our forces from being wiped out.”

Pausing briefly, Abbendis thought it over. If they could repel the Undead quickly enough, they could then use those forces to come back and repel any attack from the Alliance who would likely use a smaller force than usual to infiltrate and take advantage of the Crusade’s re-assignment of forces. If timed correctly, this could work out wholly to their advantage.

“I see what you mean. The Scarlet Monastery has many skilled warriors who can be reassigned elsewhere…keep some posted there, but I will leave the exact details up to you and the officers there.”

Dathrohan stood up and smiled at the younger leader of the Crusade, giving her a respectful nod as he prepared to leave, “I am glad you agree. Farewell, High General.”

“Farewell Grand Crusader,” She nodded back and watched as he walked out.

Before she could resume eating her meal, another interruption came to be. A lowly page had come to her door and after engaging in trivial formalities explained why they were there.

“High General, we found this package addressed to you. It is not magical in nature, so we do not believe it to be a trap.”

The leader of the Crusade looked down at the sealed box and nodded. She gestured for him to place it down on her desk and he did so.

“Thank you. Go about your duties.”

Once he was gone she closed the door and quickly set about looking inside the package. Was it something important?

Inside were only two things: a letter, and a rose.

“I am used to admiring mail, but a rose?”

Addressed to Brigitte Abbendis, the woman blushed as she read a letter of admiration about her staunch campaign against the Undead and many of her other merits, ending with seemingly thought out compliments of her dark red hair and the resolute nature of her steely-blue eyes.

It was nice being admired by one’s subordinates…but it also would be nice if they had left a name at the end of the page.

Being at the top was lonely.

“Now if only I could find out who sent it…or find the one who spread that nasty rumor that I have a daughter. Really? At my age? Perverted nonsense…”

Author's Note

Fun fact, a retcon made Brigitte go from being in two places at once (one alive, one Undead) to suddenly having a daughter. So thought I'd poke fun at it a bit.

Hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below!

Level 21: You're Gonna Go Far Kid

A/N: Special thanks to GamerGoddessDin, refferee, and Silentmech...hope to hear from more people this time around!

Time for Trixie's first arena matches! Bet nobody here knows who she's gonna fight! Hope you all enjoy, and hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Since they wouldn’t be sparring in the foyer and they wouldn’t be taking a nap, Kael was out of ideas as to what to do. As he tried to come up with something else to do his eyes caught sight of a staircase leading to a second floor.

"Show me around your house. It’ll be a good way to kill time."

Lavitz shrugged, accepting the idea as he too had no better alternative, "There is nothing too interesting, but you’re right that we can at least kill some time. Walk around wherever you like and I'll tell you about it."

Their plan decided, the two ascended the staircase to further remove them from Trixie and Lavitz’s mother.

The first room upstairs was especially small and looked to be made for a child given the proportions of the furniture and everything inside. Other than a variety of pictures plastered all over the wall, the most notable piece of the room was a small cherry blossom tree which had its own glowing pot that seemed to be sustaining the tree with its magic.

"This is my room,” Lavitz announced with a reminiscent smile on his face as he looked over the outdated room. As he took to looking at pictures of a family of four, Kael noticed that on the doorframe they were standing by there were noticeable and numerous spots where wood had been carved into in a sloppy manner.

"There is a cut in the pillar. Were you swinging your sword or something?

Lavtiz shook his head while his smile faded, "No. I…I was measuring my height."

Sensing the dip in mood, Kael attempted to cheer his new companion up, "You were a kid once? I’d never have imagined!"

"What do you mean?"

Not really seeing any reason to stay in the cramped room any longer, Kael wandered down the hallway to the second and last door on the right. The door was open just like the previous room, though this one was almost twice the size of the other.

Lavitz spoke up as Kael took a look inside the very plain and homely room, "It was my parents' room. It's been my mom's since my father passed away in the war."

His father…Kael remembered something about the man’s father dying while serving none other than himself, due to Garithos’s actions.

Not wanting to confront the touchy topic, especially since he did not know the man too personally to ask specifically, Kael only nodded slightly and turned around to face the last room on the second floor. Lavitz seemed to understand and cleared his throat before announcing the last room.

The room was full of bookcases, which made the announcement quite obvious, "This is the library. There are many books on strategy. Are you interested in that, Kael?"

Kael smirked at the slightly informal usage of his name, which was exaggerated by the difference in their stations in life. He did not particularly care for formality from someone he now considered a friend, but it was fun nonetheless.

This being the case though, Kael thought about his possible future as King of the Sindorei…leader of all the Blood Elves. Strategy would be important if he was to ever lead them to any effect, and given their current precarious position in the world there was no room to squander any resources they had…

“Actually, yes. I ought to read a few books concerning strategy lest I lead my people to ruin when the time comes.”

As Kael finished his explanation he noticed that Lavitz was moving a rolling ladder in the room meant to allow the house’s inhabitants to reach the top of the tall shelves. While not short, Lavitz was as tall as Kael and his mother was shorter than him, so the ladder’s existence made sense for the Human family.

"What are you doing? Getting a book?"

Lavitz beckoned him with a hand while climbing up the ladder, "Come here. I'll show you something special."

Kael noticed that at the part of the room Lavitz had moved the ladder over to there was a window, one which Lavitz had opened and was climbing out of.

"Special?" Kael mused to himself once he was alone in the room. Perhaps there was something unique outside?

Following after Lavitz, Kael climbed the ladder and went outside too. They still had time to kill and he would not want to be rude and ignore his host’s request.

Lavitz helped Kael through the window and onto part of the house’s roof where they could each stand comfortably given its shape and size, and then gestured out towards the keep that Wrynn ruled from.

"Here is my treasure."

The day’s sunlight was beginning to fade as things shifted into the afternoon. Given the angle and lighting the castle was illuminated by the natural light and gave off an impressive and beautiful air.

Kael smiled. The man was sentimental, that much was for certain, but Kael could not criticize him for it. He genuinely loved the things around him, and Kael could imagine a younger Lavitz coming up to look at the castle, "I see...it's a nice view of the Castle from here."

"This is what I saw everyday when I was young. I grew up thinking...'I'll be an admired knight just like my father and I'll protect this country!'" Lavitz explained as he walked across part of the roof to get closer to the distant, yet quite visible at their elevation, castle.

"Your dream came true,” Kael smiled as he saw how absolutely glowing his friend was. Lavitz was a soldier who might be wholly dedicated to his duty, but he had a soul that reached beyond it. He enjoyed botany, he was a dedicated friend, and he was a mother’s boy. In some ways, he was quite the ideal person whose only flaw could be how quick he was to act and how quick he was to judge.

Lavitz sighed as he glanced back at Kael, then towards the house, and finally back to the castle, "Yes, but the reality was much harder than I imagined back then. I feel all the more strongly how great my father was.”

The soldier clenched his hands into fists, “To protect what I love I would tear the flesh from my body and sacrifice my very soul,” he paused to look back at Kael with a smirk, “It's the same passion you have towards Trixie."

The forwardness of the statement made Kael gawk as he tried to think of a response. Trixie was downstairs and busy doing something so he was not quite fearful that she would overhear, but he still was embarrassed completely by the man’s perception.

"I…I would do anything for her."

Lavitz nodded while retaining the smile, "Because you know the importance of Trixie’s life, you can risk your own. Something is special about her, even if we don’t know what yet. You were not a foolish daredevil when you ventured into Hell itself to save her. Azeroth is covered in war clouds now. You are the only one who can protect Trixie. You know that, don't you?"

Kael averted his eyes as he tried to think about that. The Defias had been working for someone who wanted Trixie for their own purposes…something about her was special, unique even, that made her as great a target as he was. So was he to protect her every step along the path just as she was willing to stand by his side and protect him? Would a time come when protecting her conflict with the growing need he was feeling to help the other Sindorei?

"Kael! Lavitz! The food is ready!"

Lavitz laughed as the subject of their conversation spoke up, "Well, the princess needs us."

The man went inside the same way he came in and Kael was left to follow after him. Perhaps protecting Trixie and his people would not be so difficult with all those who seemed willing to aid them…Lavitz, Mitter’meyer, and Reuenthal particularly.

He only hoped that the time would come that he would not need to worry like this.

Despite the worrying feeling Kael had about the meal at first, it actually happened to be quite delectable and he was left wanting to eat more. This was because Trixie had only helped finish it rather than cook it in its entirety he was sure, as her cooking skills were quite limited. Perhaps if they had stayed with the Saldeans longer things would be different, but for now their skills would be put on hold as they focused on other matters.

"As always, your meals are delicious, Mom."

Their group had gathered by the front entrance after the meal as it was time for them all to go, but Lavitz’s mother had decided to escort them to the door, "It's such a nice thing to hear. But I'll be even happier if you settle down with a bride soon."

That mention made Lavitz, now dressed in a full suit of armor silver armor and green cloth his mother had in reserve for him, blush and try to leave with the other two travelers in tow.

"Um...Kael, Trixie, we need to do some things before we leave so let's go!"

The other two watched as he ushered them and then began a full sprint out of the house’s open door. Apparently the Warrior was quite bashful about his mother saying embarrassing things in front of company.

“Lavitz, wait! Your Panda friend Chen left something for you!” his mother called out as she grabbed some closed satchels by the door.

Trixie didn’t want Lavitz to miss the chance to receive the gifts, so she offered her hands out to take them, “I will bring them to him. Thank you for having us here.”

“Shouldn’t your fiancé carry them?”

Trixie finished receiving the bags as she struck a pose with her nose turned up and her hands on her hips, “I would like to think one of the things Kael enjoys about me is how I am not some helpless damsel.”

Kael kept quiet about how she had just been a damsel in distress a day ago because of how she had been in the process of freeing herself when he and Lavitz had reached her. She wasn’t helpless…but he’d still keep an eye out for his prideful partner all the same. He was sure it’d be his turn to need saving anyways.

Lavitz’s mother smiled at them as Kael put an arm around Trixie. The two had lightly played the part of young lovers during lunch to not burst the nice woman’s bubble, leaving Kael surprised and Trixie flustered at how easy the act came to them, “I wish you both safe travels, and please do let me know when the wedding is! My husband would have been so happy to see his charge get married.”

Kael nodded, his eyes widening a bit as he suddenly realized that this seemingly ditzy albeit nice woman had known his identity the whole time without it effecting her hospitality, even though he ought to be her race’s enemy at the moment, “I’ll be sure to have Lavitz bring you the invitations.”

Once they were done seeing her off the two Elves caught up to Lavitz at the end of the street. Trixie gave him his bags which he then put over his silver and green armor as he pointed a thumb over his shoulder towards another part of town.

“You wanted to participate in the Arena before we leave, right?”

Trixie crossed her arms over her chest and glanced at Kael nervously, “Won’t that draw a lot of attention to us?”

Lavitz shrugged, “I figured that was the point.”

It was indeed the point…Trixie wanted others to cheer for her, but at the same time this came into conflict with their current status of runaways laying low.

Seeing the worried look Kael and Trixie were sharing made Lavitz realize he ought to explain himself, “Don’t worry. The sorts who are interested in this sort of thing are not the most politically savvy or news focused. They come to see a fight, and they don’t really care for what goes on outside of the ring, or even inside of it so long as blood is spilt.”

Trixie looked to Kael again, feeling selfish for wanting to do this still…but when he smiled back at her and nodded she felt her stomach flip. He was willing to risk his own well being for her personal quest for glory.

Because of this Trixie felt obligated to win and do so in the most magnificent fashion she could manage. With their decision made Lavitz brought them to a less savory part of the city where Trixie and Kael each clenched their bags tighter, only for a small growl to come out of one of them and for a small reptile’s head to poke out.

Trixie gently pet the Mana Wyrm that she just accidently woke up, “Oh, hey Nana. You must have gotten a lot of sleep in there, huh?”

The Wyrm brushed against her hand for a moment before slinking back into the bag.

“Don’t worry, when we’re out of the big city we’ll let you out, okay? We don’t want anybody stealing or hurting you.”

She felt it curl back up and resume its napping as Lavitz finished leading them to the only well-kept building in the area which was quite larger than all the others. The announcer standing by the entrance further confirmed to the two Elves that this was the Arena.

"Hey, if any of you people out there are live fast die young types, and want to test your courage, step up and fill out the application! My advice to those of you who are feeble, cowards, or have cold feet, don't register. I guarantee you will die!”

That made Trixie nervously laugh until Lavitz reminded her that these were decently regulated events and so it was rare that someone actually died, especially since they had healers at the arena to help fighters between fights.

The announcer had some paperwork with him, so the group approached him to ask about registration.

"I'll fight," Trixie declared in as confident a voice as she could muster, but it was false confidence. How would she even know if she could defeat any of her foes? She shook off the apprehension and fear with the thought that she was doing this to repay Kael for his heroics the other day, so she ought to display the same bravery: if she could win, she could probably net a decent sum of money.

She already had used a month’s worth of bravado earlier when she used the gambling chips she and Kael had to get a King to do as she wanted. Sure that situation had been dangerous, but this one was about choosing whether to fight or not rather than figure out what to say to not have to fight.

The announcer seemed wholly pleased to have someone take him up on his offer, "That's the spirit! And, who will be participating?"

Trixie smirked as she glanced at her two companions, "Of course I am,” not expecting Kael to enter because of the possibility of being recognized, she focused more so on their other group member, “Hey Lavitz. Don't go easy on me."

He shook his head and crossed his arms, "I'm not participating. I am a Knight of Stormwind, so I am not eligible to participate in these kinds of competitions."

“Lavitz, let’s go find seats to watch,” Kael suggested below lowering his voice so only the soldier could hear him, “Preferably ones where no-one will look at us, like the back rows.”

Lavitz nodded to Kael while not following behind the Elf as he began to enter the coliseum, “You go ahead, I’ll catch up in a moment.”

Kael left them alone and Trixie rose an eyebrow at the soldier as he moved to whisper in her ear.

"I’ll make sure nobody pays him much mind while you fight,” Lavitz winked at her, “Don't embarrass yourself in front of Kael!"

Her reaction was far less whispery and more shocked gaping, “W-what? Embarrass myself?”

He nodded to her, not fazed by her surprise, “You may pretend it’s nothing more, but you two are really close. I am pretty sure everyone can tell that.”

The implication made Trixie blush, and she felt herself even more embarrassed than she was earlier when she had pretended to be Kael’s fiancé for the sake of a kind of woman, “He’s my partner and nothing more.”

Lavitz looked unimpressed by her seeming lie, “Was that why you were mumbling about Jaina earlier?”

That set Trixie off again as she did not remember doing any such thing, “Mumbling? I wasn’t mumbling about that ice queen earlier!”

Lavitz remembered her saying something about Jaina when they were leaving the castle, but he did not decide to press the matter too much farther. She was resisting the notion that she was anything more than friends with Kael, so he would find a way to work on fixing that later and not have her all flustered before she went and fought.

“Pretty sure you were, even if you weren’t paying attention to yourself…” he shook his head before running off to where Kael had entered, “I think you’d be a far better match than Lady Proudmoore, so try your best to impress him!

Trixie grumbled as she moved back to the registration person and filled out her paperwork which waived the coliseum of any culpability should she die while also explaining she could yield or otherwise forfeit if she did not wish to fight, but also that not every participant would listen and that doing so might not save her.

Once she filled out the first piece of paperwork a man in Stormwind’s common uniform and armor approached her and bowed, “Miss Lulamoon.”

Seeing that the man had a large bag of what she presumed were coins on his belt, Trixie smirked, “Did the King send you?”

The man nodded and he removed his pouch and also a bag on his back to hand over to Trixie, “He has asked that I give you this pouch of money and these articles of clothing to replace what was lost to the Defias.”

She thanked the man and after watching him leave she asked the registration man where she could change. He pointed her to a room just inside the coliseum that had a lock on the inside and she entered it, at which point she opened the bag to see that it had various clothing articles for both her and Kael.

All of it was silver and blue, the colors of the city, which Trixie felt went quite well together and resembled her silver-light blue hair. It also had no resemblance to the colors of the Blood Elves, and so it would help with their disguises somewhat. A helmet had even been included in the bag, which had an inside larger than its outside would suggest, and Trixie guessed that it was for Kael to conceal his face.

Still, despite enjoying the fresh set of clothes, Trixie wanted there to be more purple in her wardrobe and so she decided she would replace the silver cape provided when she had the chance. And possibly pick up a nice hat to go with it.

Once she was done changing, Trixie left the small closet of a room and approached the man again and finished filling out her forms. This done, she overheard someone asking the announcer about today’s fights.

“The format today will be two versus two, with each team having an alternate. The final round will involve the alternate to then be a three versus three match!”

The revelation that she would have to fight alone against teams made Trixie growl, “Really? Oh come on!”

“I could join you…”

Having found a seat already, Kael had circled back to see what Trixie was up to. Turning to see him made Trixie sigh, as she realized it would be easier with him but also did not want to burden him in the least.

“You’ve done enough for me as it is. If I really need the help later I’ll let you, but for now it’s my turn to pay you back for everything.”

Seeing that this did little to convince him, Trixie struck another of her haughty poses and smiled smugly. Today was a big day for her, and she actually did not care to share the spotlight if she could help it.

“Besides, this is my opening debut. Defeating two foes by myself will surely leave quite the impact.”

Once she was out on the field of the Arena, which was a standard coliseum with rows and rows of onlookers and tall walls that allowed for the rows to fill out and up. The circular area of battle was flat and without anything which might impede or aid battle, meaning that this was going to be a battle determined by skill and strength.

Trixie felt she had at least one of those as she walked out onto the field.

“Team Lulamoon versus…the World’s Strongest Warriors!”

The announcer’s voice reverberated throughout the Arena, even going over the voices of the large gathered crowd. The entire place was packed with all sorts of people, but Trixie had little time to look them all over as she found herself looking at her opponents.

She couldn’t help herself: she laughed.

“Haha, since when were lawn Gnomes Warriors?”

On the opposite side of the Arena two beings that did not even make it up to Trixie’s waist stood in full armor, shield and battle maces in hand as they tried to look tough despite their vertical issues.

The smaller and skinnier of the two growled at Trixie, wanting to charge at her but being unable to do so as the match had not been declared as having begun yet, “Don’t you dare mock us for our size! We’ll show you that we too can be Warriors like any others!”

“And I’m a Dwarf!” the stockier one called out, their beard passing through their full helmet and ending at their stomach.

Trixie still found herself amused, though she toned down the laughter to instead smirk at the two in a demeaning way, “Well, I guess this is fair seeing as how even together you two aren’t as big as me.”

“Fight!”

Having riled the two up as intended, Trixie watched as they ran forth as fast as their miniscule legs could carry them. She had no intention of letting these small beings beat her, so she quickly aimed an attack at the bigger one.

“Gikor!”

The bolt of frost slammed into the Dwarf and nearly knocked him off his feet, slowing down his charge as his armor frosted over and he had to fight to keep his footing. The Gnome was not about to stop his slow approach towards Trixie as he fought to use his heavy armor.

“Charge!” he yelled as he leapt at Trixie in a burst of speed, his weapon prepared to strike her as he mustered all of his might to show his might.

“Heroic strike!”

The attack swung through thin air and left the Gnome confused as he fell over from the exertion.

“What—”

A tap on his armored shoulder revealed that Trixie had teleported behind him. He tried to swing his mace at her only for her to catch it and his wrist in one palm. Trixie, using her own strength, crushed the metal beneath her hand and bent the weapon as he yelped in pain.

She lifted him into the air and pulled a leg back. She took a look around at the crowd while loudly proclaiming.

“My criteria for what can and cannot be a Warrior—

She dropped him and swung her leg forward in conjunction, her foot striking hard against his chestplate as he went flying up into the sky.

“—if it can be easily punted, it is not a Warrior.”

The Gnome was carried up and above the top of the Arena just barely, causing him to leave everyone’s view as he sailed away. The crowd cheered wildly at the display to Trixie’s pleasure, and she realized that her plan was working.

“I will make you pay for that!”

Trixie turned back to see that the Dwarf had recovered quicker than she had expected: she had charged up quite a bit of magic beforehand to have her first strike be a little more powerful than usual, and he was still standing. She figured that the armor he was wearing, which seemed made for cold climates with its ascetics, might have something to do with that. The thought brought her mind back to their map, which had the Dwarven capital city as being located in a mountain range.

None of that mattered though, since Trixie was sure she could defeat him all the same. She had not even had to use her whip yet, “You resist the cold quite well. Must be a racial trait,” she smiled as she thought about another technique she had learned recently, albeit only in passing. She placed her palms before her and began to focus her energy, “Let us see how you like a different flavor of magic.”

The Dwarf just about reached her when Trixie’s hands were completely covered in light, at which point that light burst forward in a large blast at a blinding speed.

“Kikoho!”

The attack slammed into him and carried the Dwarf backwards and off his feet. Trixie let out a tired breath as she watched him struggle for a moment before collapsing down on the ground.

She was pleased by the arcane blast she had used and how effective it was at just doing raw damage, “Pure magical energy counters plain old armor quite well. You ought to fear the arcane.”

“Winner, Team Lulamoon!”

Trixie heard the cheering of the crowd, took her bow, and then with a dramatic whip of her cape she turned around and left for the waiting area where she was sure she’d see her friends waiting for her.

One round down. Now she just needed to keep this momentum up and they could leave Stormwind with a healthy amount of gold in their pockets, in addition to starting her career as the most talented and powerful magician in Azeroth.

As expected, Kael and Lavitz were waiting for her inside. Kael was the first to rush to her side and the congratulatory hug she received made Trixie want to blush, but her pride kept her from doing anything but smirk.

“You did great out there,” Kael noted, “That technique was new. Where’d you find it?”

Trixie kept fighting the urge to blush at the physical contact as Kael finally relinquished his touch. Once he was a step away she decided to explain the attack she used to win the match, “There is a small section on magic other than ice in my book. Basically a taste test so you’ll go and buy the last edition, the one about Arcane magic. Perhaps I will with the winnings we get from this.”

“Just remember to leave enough for us to eat,” Kael joked, thinking back to the time Trixie drank enough alcohol to kill a person. Luckily she had the drinking weight of a horse instead.

“Of course. I can live frugally if I please,” Trixie smiled at the two men and then glanced back outside where another match was finishing, “Wish me luck on my next match. I had best get ready for it.”

“I am sure you will do fine,” Lavitz assured her.

Trixie was less confident, her mind turning back to the pages she had poured over previously that taught her how to do her new technique. While powerful, it had a major drawback, “Hopefully I do not have to use that move again, at least not over and over…the technique grows more powerful with consecutive usage, but the mana drain increases as well. I’m not sure I can handle its strain if I don’t have a cooldown period.”

“I could help,” Kael offered again, though Trixie quickly shook her head no.

“No, I will be fine. Ignore what I said.”

She had the other two leave her alone before her next matchup, though she did give Kael the bag of clothes and things they had been given. It was not long before it was her turn to fight again though, and when she exited she tried her best to focus and be ready for the encounter.

“One down, three rounds to go I think…”

She took a deep breath as she walked out onto the field of battle and tried looking over her opponents in the brief time before the match started.

“Team Lulamoon versus—”

She got only so far as to see that it was a pair of Dwarves with guns by the time each of them was stomped underfoot of a pale red Orc in black and silver armor with blades coming from its shoulders. Each of the Orc’s hands were replaced with a weapon, one being a sword and the other an axe.

“Enough of this pointless dribble! I will show you all how a true champion battles!”

Trixie gasped as the gate behind her shut and she realized she was alone on the field against none other than the leader of the Orcs who had assaulted Silvermoon City.

The Orc stared up at the announcer’s booth he had leapt from on top of, having previously stood atop everything as everyone looked down at the battles, “Consider me the alternate of these two dead weaklings.”

“Wh-who are you?” the announcer stammered out, answering the question on the minds of many. An Orc, in Stormwind? Just how capable and powerful did such a man have to be to infiltrate the Human capital in such a fashion?

“Kargath Bladefist, the chieftain of the true Horde and the Shattered Hand clan,” he used his weapon-hands to gesticulate to the crowd, “I came to hunt someone, but I found this competition on the way and had my interest piqued.”

Someone in the crowd moved to jump from the stadium and into the arena, but Kargath moved his bladed fist up to point at them faster than anyone in the area could see.

“I came for an Arena fight, so if any of you interfere I will kill each and every last person here! There is no honor in interrupting a match once it had begun, and I will not tolerate any interference of any kind!”

Trixie balled her own fists as she thought back to when she last saw him. He had been fighting Mitter’meyer, and Reuenthal went to confront him as well…had he slain them? She did not know, and she wanted to believe that he had not, but here he was alive, meaning that they did not defeat him. So had they lived through their loss, or had he slain them?

“You…”

In any case, Trixie knew she had no chance to defeat him…

But even so, she stood her ground and smiled. This Orc had caused innocent death before her very eyes, and she was not going to just give in to him because she was outclassed. She would stand her ground and hope that authorities would arrive quickly enough to drive him away.

“You all should be honored! You will be set to witness a legend do battle!” Kargath boasted to the crowd in his rough voice before narrowing his red eyes at Trixie, “Unless this promising combatant would rather forfeit and watch me kill everyone else…”

That steeled Trixie’s resolve even further and she moved her stance to prepare for a fight, “Fine! I’ll fight you! But this stays between us!”

From the crowd Trixie could hear her name being called by Kael in worry, while the crowd itself was yelling both in cheer of her and in horror of Kargath.

“You know, I’ve seen what you can do, but I am no coward,” Trixie explained to her foe, hoping to buy a few more seconds by talking.

Kargath grinned, some of his lower teeth making it appear more sinister than it really was given their tusk like appearance, “Then let us begin. If you can last one hundred seconds against me, I will let you live! I would hate to waste potential…”

Trixie flung an attack at him the first moment she could, hoping to possibly catch him off-guard, “Gikor!”

The attack was as useful as the one used by the Gnome though, as it struck nothing as it fizzled out in the air beyond where it should have struck Kargath.

Ten feet to the right of that though now stood the Chieftain, who snorted as he stared Trixie down. He had moved with such speed that an after-image of him had remained behind, sending a chill down Trixie’s spine.

“Over here.”

Since he was not on the offensive yet, Trixie tried another attack of her own in desperation for her life. Taking her whip out she spun it around and used the technique she defeated Ripsnarl with, using the whip’s tip as a point to channel her magic to.

“Friezudo!”

A wave of icey magic burst forth from the whip, the shockwave reaching about twenty feet at its greatest length before fading away.

Completely unaffected by this though was Kargath, who now stood behind Trixie much like she had caught the Gnome off guard. Only he did not teleport…he was too fast to need to do that.

“That was close…”

Trixie spun around and began to sling another spell at him when his sword stabbed through her lower ribs and exited the other side.

“Too slow. You break so easily.”

Impaled on his sword, the world stopped for Trixie. Was this it? Was she to die like this before her story had even truly begun?

“No…Not like this…”

She moved an arm to grip the blade impaling her. The fact that she was still alive surprised Kargath, who was even more surprised by the considerable might now clamping down on his blade.

“What?”

Trixie used her free arm to point up at his chest, a smirk on her bloodied mouth as she fought through coughing up blood to speak.

“Ki…”

Realizing what Trixie was doing, Kargath tore his blade from her stomach, but her previous grip on it slowed this down enough for her to finish.

“—koho!”

The magic blasted straight into the Chieftain’s chest, and while it did not noticeably damage his armor it did blast him back and into the closed gate Trixie had come from.

Trixie collapsed to her knees, which she could still feel to her surprise despite being sure he severed part of her spinal cord. Her attack had forced Kargath back, but it did no true harm to him. Still, he was incensed by the fact he had actually been struck and it was then that he decided to stop fooling around.

“Gikor ga…”

Trixie felt a kick connect with her chest and send her tumbling across the ground with such force that she slammed into the far wall and then bounced back to be ten feet from it.

“I’ve toyed with you long enough. Time to spill your blood!” Kargath yelled.

Despite how numb parts of her body had grown and how hurt the parts she could still feel were, Trixie pulled herself to her feet as Kargath leapt forward.

“Novae Rog! Ganzu Gikor!”

Her hands thrown before her, frost leapt from her fingertips and began to blast the entire area before her. Such was the power that sprung forward from her that pillars of ice leapt from the ground around her in addition to the magic spilling forth from her hands.

The sudden blizzard’s power forced Kargath back as he felt the power of winter slam into him. He could maybe have fought through it, but he found himself actually interested in this Elf now that she had revealed a hidden power to her. Her eyes were glowing slightly more bright as she used this latent power to save her own life.

“Impressive...”

That was enough for the Chieftain, who turned his back on Trixie and with a mighty leap landed on top of the Arena’s highest point again.

“I have other matters to attend to. I am done playing here,” he looked back and narrowed his eyes at Trixie, “Unfortunate though. I did not get to finish my last battle either with that hasty Paladin and his Hunter friend as well…”

Before leaving, Kargath laughed in seeming amusement, “You have the makings of a champion in you. You had best not squander them! Defeat your foes, grow stronger, and seek me out in Outlands! You have one year before I come hunting, so you had better not waste this opportunity!”

Trixie watched as he left in a flash, her pain receding as she continued to stare up at him.

How was she alive? How did she use that much power for spells she had only read about, not even successfully used before?

Despite the pain in her body receding, Trixie felt faint. Like the exertion had drained her of all her remaining energy, not that she particularly minded given that she was still alive. She fought the urge to fall to her knees though as she slowly became aware of the voices yelling her name in the crowd around her.

She had “won”, despite all odds, and they were loving it.

“Are you okay?!”

Trixie felt herself wrapped in a gentle yet firm embrace by none other than Kael, who had fought his way through the crowd to get to her. Lavitz had been the first to charge forward, but Kael had been able to teleport across the stadium while Lavitz was forced to cross the whole distance on foot.

“I…”

Trixie realized that all of her pain was gone, and even her light headedness was receding. She was not even bleeding where she had been stabbed, and the clothing itself seemed as if it had not been damaged whereas moments before it had bloodstains and holes through it.

“I am?”

“And the winner is…Team Lulamoon?”

They did not know how or why, but she had survived the chance encounter with one of the strongest beings of Azeroth.

Trixie thought back to what she said and realized that she now had another goal to add to her list: she would become a champion in the Arena not only for her own glory, but to earn a rematch with the self-declared legend who seemed to thrive on such fights.

One year? Trixie smirked. She would beat him before then, and then his boss Illidan too. Kargath’s Bladefist and Illidan’s glaives would be worthy trophies of such accomplishments.

For now though, she had two more fights to go, and she was quite sure they would be easier than her last one.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, and I'd really like to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Comments are :heart: after all, and the more I hear from you all the faster I can update!

Side Chapter 1: The Withering Flame

A/N: Thanks to SilentMech, refferee, Quixotic Enigma, the alicorn huntard, and Borderline Valley for your comments last chapter!

This one is a bit of a deviation, but I was having trouble with the main chapter and I had the idea for this one, so here we are! A chapter focusing on our next arc-villains. For players of WoW, I bet you've fought at least one of them before!

I hope you enjoy, and please let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

“Welcome to our Monastery, Grand Crusader. It is rare honor to have the leader of our cause visit us here on the frontlines of battle.”

A pale white haired young woman, clothed only with red cloth on her torso leaving her arms and legs bare except for a loincloth, and a tanned man with balding red hair wearing white and red robes with a flame symbol on them were each waiting for Dathrohan along with an entire retinue of Scarlet Crusade soldiers. The elder man likely had as many years as the two who had come to personally greet him amongst the officers of the Monastery.

“High Inquisitor Whitemane, Arcanist Doan, I thank you for welcoming me to your Halls.”

The Scarlet Monastery was located to the north-east of the Undead hive known as Undercity, located near enough that it was their main stronghold against Sylvanas’s ilk while having enough distance that they were not in deadlocked warfare. To its east was the area known as the Plaguelands, where the Scarlet Crusade had even more forces such as at Tyr’s Hand, but here the Monastery was the primary stronghold.

Dathrohan looked between the man and woman who held so much power here. They were each capable in their own rights, with the powers of Whitemane to revive the dead without turning them Undead being nothing less than prodigious while Arcanist Doan was one of the most wise and lasting members of the Crusade.

Also stationed there was Interrogator Vishas, known for his proclivity for torture even when unnecessary, but he produced results. Then there was also Mograine…

Mograine…Dathrohan remembered how he brought the young man to his current station. Strong, but weak willed, Mograine had needed Dathrohan’s aid and guidance to come this far. He would be a perfect leader for the mission Dathrohan had come to give.

Along with a polite bow, Doan spoke to end the silence that had been standing for some moments, “Is there anything we can assist you with, Dathrohan?”

Dathrohan’s head nodded agreeably as the leader was drawn back into the conversation.

“Your forces are deeply encroached upon the territory of the Undead, and as such are well suited to bolster the very front of our conflict with their forces. Their Elven allies to the North may press us, and with the Undead to our North and West we cannot afford to allow them to press us back.”

Whitemane eagerly bowed as well, her eyes excited at the proposed plan, “I understand. I will ready our most powerful forces for your coming Crusade, my lord.”

Dathrohan smiled as he remembered a piece of useful information about the Inquisitor: she was quite fond of Mograine. Together, with his strength and her magical capabilities, they could carve their way through countless foes.

Love was powerful, and it should not be squandered as a resource.

“I am thinking that you and Mograine can lead the expedition, High Inquisitor. I will stay here and make sure that the Monastery keeps its vigil while its most veteran soldiers are on the frontline.”

If she was eager before, Whitemane was almost ready to leap to action at that very moment. She kept it from showing outwardly though, and she kept her head bowed as she responded to the Grand Crusader.

“As you will, my lord.”

Plans were being set according to Dathrohan’s specifications, and while it took the better part of a day the Grand Crusader turned away company and other officers who sought to help as he finished them in Doan’s study, which was repurposed as Dathrohan’s own while he stayed.

It was not that Dathrohan did not trust his associates: he knew the officers to be competent, or else he would never have allowed them to rise to their positions. No, instead it was that he knew everything he needed to for this planning already and did not need others meddling and questioning his planning. Instead he had all those who would help instead go and prepare for the campaign they were about to wage.

The top fifty percent of the Monastery’s forces were to leave, leaving the others, their families, and their servants behind in the area. The Alliance forces arranged to assault the Monastery would then be able to cause damage and lessen the seeming threat if the Crusade, making Sylvanas turn her attention to Outland and devote her forces abroad instead of at her gates.

A momentary sacrifice, but a necessary one. It would be seen as a tragedy worthy of revenge to the other Crusaders, but Dathrohan would be there to stem the tide of the damage so nothing permanent was inflicted upon the Crusade.

They had over ten thousand soldiers at their beck and call across Azeroth. A hundred could be sacrificed for a greater purpose…the eradication of the Undead. The defeat of Arthas.

“Your plans seem to be going along quite well.”

Dathrohan turned around in the room and narrowed his eyes at the eight and a half meter tall Demon standing before him. Clad in large red armor and possessing lime green glowing eyes in his pale face, Varimathras would appear intimidating to many who randomly came across such a fearsome being, what with his massive height, large wings, unnatural eyes, formidable claws, and an aura that radiated to those nearby it a sense of dread.

After all, he was a Dreadlord.

“Varimathras, it is careless for you to visit this way.”

Dathrohan turned back to his work, though he did not sit down as he did not even seem to notice that he had stood up to confront the sudden intruder.

Varimathras took to leaning against a wall nearby Dathrohan, having stepped away from the door he did not even have to use to enter given his powers, “Sylvanas was infuriated by the Scarlet Crusade destroying a supply shipment and sent me out on a revenge campaign. I have a hundred heads to collect or she will pursue further action.”

Dathrohan sighed. His forces were being too competent for their own good…he would normally be pleased, but this was not the time to be diverting their opponent’s attention towards them. It was not as if he could outright say that to his forces though, for they would burn even their beloved Grand Crusader at the stake if he told them to leave the Undead alone.

“Weed out the fools we send to the frontlines against her, or exhibit some patience for our coming conflict here. Sylvanas is not our primary enemy, Arthas and his abominable Scourge are. After the Alliance comes, you can take as many heads as you please from the remainders. I do not want to squander additional forces.”

The sound of a key turning and a door opening came at the same time as some muttering from outside, the door swinging open as a figure sullenly trodded in.

“I wish she would notice—D-DEM—”

Arcanist Doan lashed out with his magic a moment too late, as a single swipe of the Dreadlord’s claw decapitated him and silenced his warning.

“There is one,” Dathrohan growled as he watched the veteran spill his blood lifelessly onto the ground, no doubt having returned to come receive one of his own materials from here, “Damnable fool. He must have left something in his office.”

Varimathras grabbed the severed head and looked at it with annoyance as it hung from red hair, “I shall take my leave. I have ninety nine more heads to collect, if the forces Sylvanas lent me from the Apothecary have not succeeded on their own in taking some.”

As the Dreadlord disappeared with the blue flash of a Hearthstone, Dathrohan growled as he sat down and began to think about how this changed things, if it even did at all, “Doan may have eventually been eliminated anyways to weaken our position here and maintain the balance of power against Sylvanas, but these circumstances are unfortunate. Now the Undead will rally around his death, and our call to arms will be more severe…”

Dathrohan blinked as he realized something pooling within his armor. He looked down to see that the deceased spellcaster’s magic had penetrated his armor and struck what to many would be a lethal blow. Varimathras had moved out of the way of the magic and struck on his own, so the attack had instead struck the Grand Crusader.

“The fool even struck this body of mine. I should have a healer take care of this…”

The commotion from moments ago had caused nearby guards to come to Dathrohan’s room, and when the first entered he barked an order at them.

“You! Bring a healer to me. An Undead agent came and has assassinated Arcanist Doan. I drove them off, but I have been wounded by their foul magic.”

It was not entirely a lie. Varimathras did work for the Undead.

“Yes sir!” the soldier shouted as they did an about face and ran off to find the nearest healer. Other soldiers set up a defensive position around the room to protect their leader, leaving Dathrohan to sigh to himself and roll up the scrolls he had been writing on.

The pain was distant, but feeling it reminded Dathrohan of once when he had been on the receiving end of the same claws Doan had…

“A temporary setback to assure victory down the road…I will take Undercity back from Sylvanas.”

“Dear admirer, I appreciate your kind words and the flowers you have sent me. I hope that you are dedicating as much time as you do writing to me as you do your duties, for the Undead will not rest.”

At Tyr’s Hand, Abbendis paused as she dictated her letter as she also wrote it. She was trying to think of something from one of her romance novels, but nothing was coming to mind.

She was a skilled warrior and was growing into her role as leader…but romance? Well, she only had her books for reference.

Brigitte had received another letter, with another rose and more flattery, but this time it had come from a particular mailing service and location. If she wished, she could send a letter back to it and the sender likely would come across it…whoever they were.

“If you would like to speak more about the matter, visit my quarters after hours this coming weekend. I do not think I need to tell you this, but I expect this matter to remain between us.”

Brigitte brought her quill to her chin as she tried to come up with something to say back. While flattery of course improved her mood, it was truly the feeling of a forbidden romance that made her latch onto this. A commanding officer and some rank and file member consorting together? Brigitte could only imagine the thrill that would give…

Rapid knocking on her door made her drop her quill onto the desk and also managed to drop her mood severely.

She rose from the chair and rushed to the door, swinging it open to stare down the messenger cowering before it, “What is it? It’s the middle of the damn night!”

“My lady…”

It took a minute, but Brigitte was informed of the passing of Doan. Doan, one of the oldest and most loyal members of the Crusade, even if he personally crept Brigitte out.

Needless to say, she was not pleased.

“Go. Get out of my sight. I need to think.”

The messenger departed and Brigitte slammed the door. The whiplash of her moods left her in a haze, as she had been blushing one moment and infuriated the next. How could something like this happen? Were the troops truly so lax as to allow this sort of travesty to occur?

“We can use him as a martyr…” she paused as disgust rose within her again, “To think that those cretins could infiltrate us and eliminate one of our highest ranking officers…”

The Undead had taken so many from them, had destroyed so much…and now they had yet another leader of the Scarlet Crusade to claim as their trophy. It sickened Brigitte to think that right now they could be reviving Doan’s head with some sick magic to further taunt the Crusade. The mere thought of being transformed like that, twisted into a sick creature tortured with eternal life as an abomination, had Abbendis’s gut twisting.

To move her mind off of the depravity of her foes, she decided to focus on what mattered immediately: her own forces and their reaction to this.

“First, execute the guards who ought to have stopped this. They were either incompetent or heretics, and in either case our cause does not need them.”

This would instill greater discipline in others, who would learn from the mistakes of the fools who dared allow their superior officer to die. If they knew any better they would have committed suicide by now to pay for their sins.

“Second…”

But what then? Brigitte’s mind trailed off as she tried to come up with a follow up to her planned execution of the incompetent soldiers, but beyond rage and fury she could not think of anything. Perhaps fortifying their holds? Increasing their guard retinues? What?

Looking across her desk to a photo, Abbendis moved to a comfortable sitting position and ran a hand across the picture frame.

In it there was a dark haired man and a teenage red head standing in the white and red armor of the Scarlet Crusade. Brigitte cringed as she looked at the smile upon the man’s face, the man seeming sure of himself as he stood there for eternity in the photo.

“Father, what would you do?”

There was no response, leaving Brigitte to sigh and lay her head down on her desk, ignoring the paper she soon began to drench with tears.

“Right…you’re dead, and these same bastards are to blame. That’s why…that’s why I can never forgive them…”

The Undead came to be when the Burning Legion came to Azeroth and sought to utilize a mindless slave army for their purposes. The Demons created this blight, and their creation now ran rampant on the world even after their creators were all defeated and driven away.

Over ten thousand soldiers would fight them…but against a never-ending horde, could they win? If things continued, they would stagnate under the stalemate they were engaged in.

“Light help us all…”

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, and I'd really like to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Comments are :heart: after all, and the more I hear from you all the faster I can update!

Level 22: In The Future Everything Is Chrom..ie

A/N: Thanks to refferee, SilentMech, Mister E, Ultimate Bromaeda, Jonuts, and nioniosbbbb for your comments since the last chapter. I've been busy with midterms or else I would have released this sooner.

Special mention to Jonuts who realized something I have been hoping someone would fully call out but hadn't, but it's finally brought up in this chapter in passing...those who know will get it, others will get it in time. If they had only started reading one chapter later I would appear ingenious, but instead they pointed it out right before I come out with the revelation myself... :rainbowwild:

I hope you enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

There was a break in the fighting to give everyone time to recover, time that was extended by an hour from its originally planned hour length because of Kargath’s disruption. After Trixie’s showing in the arena against him the favor of the crowd had shifted entirely, gifting her with an instant idol status amongst those who had witnessed the events. It had to be explained to Trixie afterwards by Lavitz that Kargath was quite possibly the most renowned gladiator fighter in history, and that to survive against him seemed to indicate that Trixie herself was on his level.

Trixie’s group knew this was not the case, and that she was simply lucky, but Trixie was not about to dispel the illusions painted of her. The only thing that she minded was that the odds would be given in her favor from here on out, so betting gold on the matches would be less lucrative…something she had done on the last two behind the backs of her companions. She did not take more than her share of course of the money they had available, but since Trixie had gone in quite sure of herself she had decided to take it a step further and not only expand her reputation but also her purse.

“Do you like it?”

Trixie had just entered the waiting room again, proof of her winnings shown on her with a flowing purple cape behind her and a matching hat atop her head. Each had stars embroidered on them in both the color of her equine form’s fur as well as light yellow. When Trixie had gone out during the break she had decided to invest in enchanted clothing that would add to her dramatic flair, and so while she was speaking to a tailor about having her new robes gifted by Stormwind altered to her specifications, Kael had instead gone shopping for something that would match her style.

He felt that her current outfit was appropriate for the first time: Trixie had her robe altered so that it freed her legs below the knees, and her sleeves had been removed as well. She felt excessive clothing was uncomfortable, so freeing up her limbs was already speaking to her. The smile she had on her face ever since she altered her clothing was only made larger before seguing into a blush when Kael returned with a gift for her.

Trixie was not used to gifts, so to receive a billowing cape that gave her the appearance of the stage magician she desired to be she could only quietly murmur something before going to change and telling Kael to meet her back at the arena.

Now showing the cape off with some twirls and dramatic arm movements, along with her matching hat she found in the same bag as the cape, Trixie finally could face him and smile again, her blush having since faded.

“I do. I think I’ll say that a lot if you ask.”

Kael bowed, glad that some of his share of the money they all had together was able to distract Trixie, and himself, from the gut wrenching display Kargath had made of impaling her, “I am glad I am able to please you.”

Trixie had also had the tailor, a mage like her, fix the bloodstains with a spell that Trixie memorized by watching intently. A tailor would not be with them every step of the way, at least not until Kael could have more practice, so she needed to be able to remove such unsightly things from her person. It was a general cleaning spell and very simple, so Trixie foresaw that it would get a lot of usage in their downtime whenever she had a moment or Kael bothered to learn.

Trixie had dispersed the money she had once the matches were over, since it didn’t actually all belong to her, and she was surprised that when their Warrior friend returned it was without any gifts for himself. Surely he deserved a treat as well after everything, right? Even Kael had bought some armor for himself while he was out, though he had yet to use it since it would take awhile to change and he didn’t want to be bothered with it. He was not supposed to be fighting that day anyways, and wearing metal armor with a cape of his own would attract more attention than simply wearing the clothes gifted by Stormwind for the time being (which, while requiring a change, took moments compared to learning how to use heavier armor correctly).

“Lavitz, did you want anything new to wear?”

The soldier shook his head and smiled to the two. Lavitz did not often earn much at all, though he was used to being paid in large sums after endless time off on the front lines of conflict, so he was able to resist the temptation of using a good sum of his money even when he could, having learned how to handle money well at the sight of other soldiers blowing all their money on nothing.

“Thank you, but this suit of armor is a family heirloom. That’s why it is different than normal Stormwind armor.”

Trixie smiled and nodded as she realized that he was telling the truth: silver was both in Lavitz’s armor as well as the standard soldier of his race, but green replaced the blue cloth and decoration, and no gaudy gold was adorned on his armor despite having a higher rank than most. In fact, its simple and standard appearance actually impressed Trixie, as its humble nature was quite like its owner…unlike her, “Well it suits you.”

“However, I must ask, how did you get so much gold after two fights? They usually pay out at the end.”

It was merely a question born of simple curiosity, however it made Trixie feel abashed all the same given the answer she felt obligated to give: that she had risked it on her victory.

Trixie ran a hand through her silver-blue hair and under her hat as she admitted how she managed to make them relatively rich to the common person, “I bet a bit of the gold King Wrynn gave us on me winning. The odds given to me were so great that we should be set on money for quite awhile.”

Lavitz nodded, understanding and not really caring: he had taken some bets as well in the past when he was a younger soldier, “No-one thought one unknown Mage could take on two opponents at once and win.”

Kael on the other hand was less than pleased with the prospect of Trixie risking their money, but he could not complain with the outcome, “I would complain about you gambling our money away, but it paid off.”

A horn was blown outside and cries for bloodshed roared throughout the entire arena. The portcullis did nothing to muffle the crowd’s uproar, and Trixie used this moment to leave the awkward conversation that would follow with their given trajectory.

“That’s my cue. Time to show everyone how great I am again.”

Trixie moved on her way out and moved her cape so that it was positioned correctly coming off her neck and shoulders. She was half done, and her building reputation would be shattered if some nobody were to beat her in a battle after Kargath did not.

Still, feeling slightly guilty over having been given a gift without having something in return, Trixie paused one more moment and turned back to smile at Kael. Compared to her, he was selfless as could be and that made her feel unworthy.

“Thank you.”

After that small recognition of Kael’s generosity, Trixie dashed outside to the sound of the crowd’s uproar as the portcullis opened and closed for her. This done she basked in the cheers of the crowd, whose fervor was not like anything Trixie had experienced. Something about being in front of a crowd felt familiar, but this crowd was of hundreds of souls all cheering for her…

“Hey, girlie, you think you’re so great for surviving against Kargath, don’t you?”

Of course, not everyone at the Arena wanted her to win. Namely, her opponents who were exiting their own waiting room on the opposite side. The only way they could win would be to bet on her and purposefully lose, but Trixie doubted they would allow such fraud, but then again she did not know the specifics of this culture and such a thing could be legal. They let the opposite, of betting on oneself, occur, so perhaps such a thing was possible?

In any instance, the middle aged Warrior who had called Trixie out, correctly, on her newfound arrogance was one who meant nothing to Trixie, but who Kael in the crowd found himself gaping at. He did not appear to be anything too out of the ordinary, wearing what seemed to be common armor and not possessing any particularly notable physical features, so how could Trixie know he was anything special at the time?

To respond to his taunt about her fight with Kargath, Trixie nonchalantly took to looking at her fingernails instead of doing the smart thing and observe more about her foes by actually looking at them, “To be honest it isn’t the first time.”

“Well you got no chance against me. I don’t merely survive against legends, I kill them.”

Trixie rose a brow, curious as to what he meant as she finally began to look him over, “Oh?”

“Team Lulamoon versus—”

The man had a cloak made of stitched together Defias masks. They appeared worn and aged, as if they had been worn for quite some time in this form, and Trixie realized something terrible just as the announcer finished speaking.

“—the Defias Slayers!”

Given that the Defias had been only notably massacred twice, Trixie was certain that this man had something to do with the previous extermination of the bandits. While far from an example of Stockholm Syndrome, Trixie certainly had regrets that things turned out like they had. They were not wicked at heart, and they had deserved a second chance that was above and beyond being thieves of necessity.

The Warrior, who had a man in robes as a partner, drew his broadsword and bullrushed Trixie faster than her previous Warrior foes had been able, yet far slower than Kargath, “I’ll kill you in one stroke and take your head as a trophy, just like VanCleef! And I’ll even get paid to do it too, just like before!”

This was the man who ripped VanCleef’s head off and drove his daughter to become the damaged teenager Trixie had encountered. Because of this man’s cruelty Vanessa lost her father in front of her own eyes in a most brutal fashion. Vanessa had spoken of an Elf doing the deed, but Trixie doubted the Elf had come alone or else they would be a legend she would have heard about by now for such bravery and valor.

Any patience Trixie had for boasts and threats was lost the moment she pieced things together, and the first indication to her foes that they should surrender was the sudden intensity of her glowing eyes as her magic began to boil within her.

“Shut your mouth or I’ll carve your tongue out!”

Without even using the incantation Trixie hurled a wave of frost at the man in robes, blasting him back with a six foot chunk of ice with such strength it carried him back into the now shut portcullis behind him, denting it and freezing him to the metal as the ice shattered around him and frosted the area.

She had aimed to the side to keep herself from outright murdering the man who just flared her temper. To Trixie, this man deserved to suffer as horribly as Vanessa had…though she would not grant him death, as even enraged Trixie refused to lower herself to such a level.

Instead of being distraught that his Priest ally had been taken out of the fight, the Warrior seemed amused. He finished running at Trixie and swung his sword right at her neck while shouting, “Oh, have I touched a nerve? Does death scare you that much?”

“Silence!”

Trixie withdrew the small blade the Saldeans had given her in a swift movement that, through brute force, caught the swinging broadsword and then snapped its top half off. As Trixie shouted for him to be quiet though she cast one of her immobilizing ice spells directly at his nearby face, aiming specifically at his neck and jaw.

The magic froze everything from his shoulders to his lower lip, though Trixie soon after cast it on each of his feet as well to immobilize him. His arms were shaking from their severe chill and his frozen shoulder joints kept him from articulating his still free limbs all too much, though his eyes were shaking much like his arms: the cause was not the chill of the ice encasing his body, but rather the fear that gripped him as he looked into the bright suns that had become Trixie’s eyes as she stared him down.

“How easy is it for you to boast of your slaughter of another man with your jaw frosted over?”

The Warrior tried to struggle, but an armor shattering punch to the stomach had him instead on his knees and struggling to breathe. Trixie stood over him with a blank expression, her eyes still wild with magic as she felt herself finally able to let out her anger over how that Hunter ruined everything back at the cavern. This man would pay for his part in making that tragedy come to be.

With the power of a horse, Trixie sent a kick into the still armored part of his abdomen and knocked the man over onto the ground, ripping him from the ice she had encased his feet in. She could do as he had planned to and kill him, but she was content just looking down at him as even now she had no bloodlust coursing through her…just pent up anger he was able to serve as a conduit for.

“I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, and I am above your kind. I have no need to kill others, and I find outright murderers like you repugnant. Why did you slay VanCleef? For gold? For fame?”

Grabbing him by the scruff of the neck, Trixie hoisted the man up and stared at him at eye-level.

“Whatever you sought, you chose to use force to solve an economic problem. You beheaded a man who sought to protect his own people even if it meant to tear down those who harmed them in the first place. I do not condone his actions, but yours are just as unforgivable!”

The man fell to the ground as he felt the ice around him melt. Trixie was suddenly ten feet away from him, once again wielding the dagger that was really just like a broken sword.

“However…” she brandished it in his direction and smiled smugly, “Anything you can do, I can do better. If you seek to hold a head in hand after this fight so greatly, I will gladly hand you your own! So come, fight me, slayer of legends, lest you let me go on to become the greatest one this land has ever known!”

He recognized that blade: VanCleef had run him through at one point with it, only for it to break after the fight. The fact that this wretch of a woman had the blade served to set his own temper off, as it served as a reminder of the humiliation VanCleef put him through while his Elven ally carried the encounter.

Drawing a short blade from his belt, the man who beheaded VanCleef like a butcher tried to re-enact the scenario on Trixie’s head once again. The attack was easy for her to parry, not because she was particularly gifted with wielding her weapon but because the boost in power she had received had boosted her dexterity and ability to wield the blade against his own as if her foe was in slow motion. She did not know why she had such an outpouring of energy, but she wished she had control over it: it was nice, but it seemed only to come out when she needed it or was highly emotional.

“Shut up, you moralist bitch!”

Trixie diverted her opponent’s attack to the side before scoffing and twirling around behind him as his body carried forth, leaving her in a position to then knock his legs out from underneath him with a sweep of her own leg. Her cape swirled behind her and floated up in the air as she made the fast move, the cloth being carried by the wind.

“This is the man who felled VanCleef? Have you been resting on your laurels these years?” Trixie haughtily taunted, knowing that she was in complete control of this fight. Now on his back the Warrior was not any threat, but he was not unconscious, dead, or yielding, so technically they still had a fight to carry out.

While she had his attention though, there was something that was really bugging Trixie that she wanted to have answered.

“You could not have defeated him, and I know you were not alone at the time. Tell me, what was the name of the Elf who defeated VanCleef for you?”

With a powerful stomp on his wrist by Trixie, the Warrior growled in pain and let go of his weapon. He did not care to help out this Elven woman in the least, and if he could he would deprive her of what she sought even if she still would win the match.

“Like I cared to know, or would tell you!”

Trixie moved her foot to his collarbone, just below his neck, and began to press down with increasing intensity, “Do you have a choice?”

“You don’t like murder…” he coughed as he quickly became short of breath.

Trixie nodded and stopped crushing him beneath her foot, “You’re right…” she knelt down and lowered her dagger to a soft spot in his arm’s armor, “But a maimed man is not a dead one. I would care to keep you from murdering others, even if I have to lower myself to some brutality.”

With an explicit threat given, the man quickly began to reprioritize, and he began spilling his metaphorical guts even as Trixie thought to herself about how she would never actually spill any of his real ones. He didn’t know that though.

“He wore armor…silver colored I think…” the man coughed up as the damage he had incurred began to catch up with him, “Had a gun, and a pet eagle…bastard’s eyes were…were…”

In a fit of pain and fear the man passed out, leaving Trixie the only one still standing in the arena.

Trixie sighed as she regretted how little info she got from the man, info she could not even consider wholly reliable given the source and the conditions it was received, but it would have to do. She stood up and dusted herself off, repositioning her hat and cape as she did so.

“I think we’re done here.”

The crowd was cheering even before the announcer said the obvious.

“The winner is Team Lulamoon!”

Seeing as how her two opponents were not in great positions to remove themselves from the arena, some workers of the facility came to move them instead. Trixie gestured to the beaten and bruised Warrior when they came for him, actually kind of concerned if she had hurt him too much.

“Get him medical attention.”

The worker did as they were told as it was already their job to do so, but insisting on it made Trixie feel better. She was sickened that she had met yet another sociopath like the Hunter, and each time one of them had spelled the doom of the Defias and the group’s leader…only, unlike the Hunter, this Warrior was ruthless and unskilled rather than skilled because of how ruthless they were.

“Trixie, Trixie, Trixie, Trixie!”

The sound of her name being called pleased Trixie, who took to the center of the arena to bask in their exaltation. One more match and she would be done, her reputation boosted and her pockets lined for the immediate future.

“The crowd adores me. I would hate to be my next opponent. I can’t wait to get started—”

“Then let’s start.”

Trixie spun halfway around to where the voice she knew all too well came from, and surely enough when she was done doing so she caught sight of the last team in the tournament.

The Elven Hunter who had given them chase was alive and well, along with at least three of her cohorts, and all of them were coming out onto the field to join Trixie there as the previous combatants were removed. The Hunter already had their bow drawn and arrow nocked, prepared to shoot and kill Trixie the moment she was allowed to do so without causing a scene.

“Three on one. I will enjoy humiliating you in front of a crowd as I defeat you and force you to tell me where that fake Sunstrider is.”

Trixie glanced at the woman and at her companions, who Trixie was partially fortunate to only have to face two of out of their three members, “I…”

Her surge of power had died down with the end of the fight…meaning that unless it came back, she was perhaps equal to the Hunter in terms of overall power. But the mercenary in gritty green armor who had the opportunity to kill her and Kael but chose not to? The bald Warrior with them who did not seem as arrogant as the previous few? Trixie did not think she would be able to handle them, at least not while also handling the Hunter who sought her head along with Kael’s.

“No need to look for me. Here I am.”

Who, speaking of which, had rushed from the crowd to join Trixie on the field. He had taken a closer position this match given what happened with Kargath, the risk of his identity being found not equaling his worry for his haughty friend.

The Hunter snorted as she turned her bow to face Kael, now having who she actually wanted dead right there with her, “So you’ve survived. Good. I think the real Kael’thas will enjoy having your head on a pike.”

Kael narrowed his eyes at the Hunter as he took Trixie’s arm and began to pull her further and further away from the team of four who stood against them currently, “Yes, among other things, such as killing innocents. What makes you so sure you are correct in your assumptions that he is your true Prince?”

“He holds the power and reigns, so he is right. Might makes right,” the cold woman explained without a hint of care for the innocent lives the other Kael’thas had taken in his sacking of Silvermoon City.

The announcer, not to be forgotten, spoke up over all others with his amplified voice, “Before we begin, we should settle the matter of who will fight on each team!”

The Hunter glanced back at her allies, who included the mercenary, the old Warrior, and a Priest in similar robes to the ones Trixie had just defeated moments before, “You three, decide which two of you will join me.”

Trixie did not like facing this group even two on three…in fact, if the odds were reversed she still would not be comfortable, and because of that she was even more reluctant to have her partner with her to share in what might be a deadly defeat, “Kael…”

Kael moved his hand from her arm to her shoulder, which he patted gently, “We’ll get through this.”

“We don’t have a third person, and I think this time we might need one…”

The announcer seemed to realize the issue as well, though it was more amusing than dire in their perspective, “Will anyone serve as the substitute for Team Lulamoon, or will we see them continue their unprecedented feat of defeating larger teams with their superb skill?”

The three allies of the Hunter argued amongst themselves who would fight in the battle, and thus who in turn would get paid for the match, before the green armored mercenary shook his head and rose his hand. He stopped leaning on one of the walls and started to approach Trixie and Kael.

“Aye, I’ll stand with the Elves.”

The Hunter was tempted to shoot him in the back, but she had hired him because he was quick and also because he was as ruthless as her. If he didn’t die from the shot, he would be a difficult foe to take down at such a range. As such she just watched as he approached the Elves, and decided that to defeat him she would first take care of the others and then focus on him three versus one.

“Damn mercenary. I should have known you would turn traitor.”

Kael welcomed the turncoat with a nervous smile. The man was quite intelligent for a sellsword, and he remembered how their “fight” had gone…namely, Kael remembered how outclassed he was when put up next to him. Having that on his side was not something he was going to complain about, except maybe the having to pay the greedy mercenary part.

“Thank you for the help, but how much was she paying you?”

Now standing beside his new allies, the mercenary shrugged as he took his place next to them, “Not enough. You want me, you’ll pay me a third of what you win today.”

Trixie and Kael looked to each other and the former nodded, “That is quite fair.”

“Thought so,” the mercenary grinned in a roguish manner, possessing charisma despite the darkness of his black eyes and the ease of which he abandoned employers, “Now, let’s go show the rotten bitch a thing or two.”

“Perhaps if she lightened up a bit and grew a heart she wouldn’t be so bad,” Trixie suggested in a half-joking manner, but in reality she wished it would happen. Not only would it make their lives easier, it would keep a whole lot of people from not dying if the Hunter ever decided that a conscience was something she desired.

“Ehhh, there’s no cure for being a cunt,” the mercenary sighed before pointing to the bald Warrior across from them, “I’ll get the guy on the right. He’s a bit more experienced than either of you. The missy and…” he paused as he tried to remember what the name of the Priest, only to realize he didn’t care a moment in,“Sir whosit of who cares are all yours.”

“Team Lulamoon versus Team Noxious…begin!”

The moment the announcer finished his sentence, an arrow tore through the air and then through the shoulder of Kael, who grunted as he moved to rip it from his body.

“Kael!” Trixie gasped reflexively, distracting her from the fight as she worried about if he was wounded or not.

“I’m fine,” he grunted as he set fire to the arrow in palm, his mind quickly setting on paying the Hunter back for that. Fortunately for him she was not firing rapidly and actually seemed content to take her time, only just then nocking another arrow.

“My bullet wounds tell me that I still owe you for what your bastard of a lackey, Odd Eyes Reuenthal, did to humiliate me,” she growled as she prepared to fire again, “And for escaping thanks to that child. I hope she enjoys Hell like her father.”

While not on the same level as her previous match, the anger sparked a rapid gain in Trixie’s power which she used to fire off a powerful bolt of frost right at the Hunter. Unfortunately for Trixie this sudden magic casting had been accounted for by her opponent and it missed completely as the Hunter strafed to the side and prepared more arrows.

“I saw you fight Kargath, I saw you fight that idiot in the last match, I know that you have power within you that is not apparent on the surface. I will not be caught off guard like them!”

Kael was slinging magic back and forth against the Priest, who was like the Priest who had tormented Mitter’meyer in that his magic was dark instead of light. Kael’s movements and reaction time were slowed by the dark magic he had not been on the receiving end of yet, and he found the pain unbearable for his head felt as if it was splitting in two every moment the Priest channeled his magic on him. Despite that, the Priest made the error of not moving as he continued combat, and so it was easy for Kael to cast his magic across the ground beneath the man’s feet. The patch of fire forced the Priest to throw himself away from the deadly flames, and thus gave a reprieve to Kael for the moment.

He looked around to find that their hired mercenary was engaged in a brutal melee with the Warrior, who was very nearly killing the mercenary with every attack but not actually connecting with any of them. It was a battle of speed versus strength, with the mercenary serving Trixie and Kael having lighter armor and a smaller blade while their opponent hacked away with strength empowered by his glowing blade which held some obvious magical presence.

Kael next turned to see that the Hunter had done something unexpected: Trixie had managed to freeze their quiver and arrows, so the Hunter had rushed in to engage them in a melee. Trixie was doing her best to avoid being cut down, fear overpowering her anger as she teleported away from one strike only to find herself quickly put on the defensive again as the Hunter gave instant chase.

Trixie’s retreat brought her back to where she had originally stood next to Kael, though she was facing the other direction as she prepared another spell to use as the Hunter came in with a machete that had an unnatural and sickly sheen to it.

“Trade!”

It was a simple command, but when Trixie felt Kael lock one arm with hers she instantly understood what he meant. They spun around with arms locked, causing the Hunter to sail by harmlessly, and each of them unleashed their attack on their opposite opponent. The Priest had one of his arms frozen over while the Hunter narrowly avoided having her back burned through by a powerful flame, the woman having pitched herself forward into an evasive roll the moment her attack failed to connect.

Once she recovered, the Hunter tore an arrow from her slowly defrosting quiver and dipped its remaining ice in the flames nearby her, “Nice try.”

Instead of use her bow, which was on her back, she held the arrow that now had a flaming tip in her hand as she moved in to attack again. Using her sword hand she tossed something in Trixie’s direction while aiming right at Kael with a jab of the arrow, which he dodged narrowly as he had his attention distracted by what was thrown at Trixie.

It was a metal contraption of sorts, but he could not pay it much mind as he had to use his own blade to stave off the Hunter, who proved far faster than him. He would swing and she would dodge it much like his mercenary ally was doing elsewhere on the battlefield, but she was managing to nick him bit by bit through the damaged leather armor he wore along with some of the new material Stormwind granted him.

Realizing that he was not going down anytime soon, the Hunter changed her method and turned her attention to Trixie once again. Because Trixie was struggling to fight off the Priest’s mental attacks she had not budged from where she was, and so she had not fallen into the Hunter’s trap by good fortune. To fix this the Hunter hurled her blade at Trixie’s lower legs, intent on tripping her up and causing her to fall into the set trap.

Instead, the blade buried itself in Kael’s shin as he knocked Trixie down and out of the way, instead finding himself stumbling into the trap set. Trixie watched in horror as the metal clamped over his leg and blood spurted out from the wound, only to then get worse as the limb began to show the same signs of frosting over that Trixie’s magic gave off. Had the Hunter gotten the idea of a freezing trap from her?

As Trixie got up, she was assaulted by the Priest who now was on his last legs in terms of fighting. Trixie had taken advantage of his lack of movement to freeze him again and again in increasing quantities, but he had summoned a shield of sorts to ward off some of it so it had not been easy for her. Still, he had enough fight left in him to prevent Trixie from interfering as the Hunter approached the now immobile and kneeling Kael.

He moved to swing his sword, but his movement was made sluggish by the extreme pain of having an artery cut into by the metal contraption. The ice on his leg was not pure white or blue, but rather tainted red by the blood that was pooling inside the ice. Fortunately for him the ice seemed to be numbing some of the pain, but Kael still could barely focus as his sword was caught and then knocked from his hands.

Taking her sword from the ground, the Hunter looked him over with seeming confusion, “You would die for a nobody like her?”

Kael snorted, not even raising his head to look at her. He was in too much pain to speak clearly, and so he held it all in. Taking one last glance at Trixie, who he smiled to, he then lowered his head and accepted his fate.

“So be it.”

The Hunter impaled his chest and twisted the blade before kicking him over onto the ground. The damage done to his chest resulted in something falling out that did not appear to be an organ, but rather a round green orb that caught the Hunter’s attention as Kael’s body fell down lifelessly. The moment it had left him his body lost any trace of life, further drawing the Hunter’s attention to the object, whatever it was.

“What is this?”

Trixie was stunned completely at the sight and felt herself twitching as she rose to her feet.

“Ka…Kael?”

Having witnessed Trixie’s anger giving birth to explosive power, the Hunter quickly threw herself to the side as the entire area she had just stood disappeared in a flash of light. Trixie angrily continued to throw out every last ounce of energy she could muster though, forcing the Hunter to continue running, always just barely outrunning the ensuing explosion for in her anger Trixie was not aiming where the Hunter was going but rather where she was.

The pool of energy could not last forever though, and Trixie was already worn down by her many fights that day. When a hyperventilating Trixie finally stopped her rampage she fell to her knees and let tears stream down her face, utterly distraught over the loss of her friend.

The Hunter, however, did not even seem particularly elated that she had succeeded. She was catching her own breath as she took her bow out and prepared to nock a new arrow, her quiver having melted its frost to the point of usability by this point, “I…expected that reaction.”

Arrow ready, she lifted it up and pointed it at Trixie, intent to put her down as well.

“You’ll join him in Hell soon enough.”

Even exhausted, Trixie still had it in her to grow furious at that statement and she balled some more energy in one hand, ready to take this woman out with her if need be.

“Ki…”

For Trixie, time stopped. Everything moved in slow motion before coming to a complete halt. She blinked as her power faded from her, confused as to what was happened.

No-one else was moving. The Hunter was standing completely still instead of firing her arrow, the bald man and the mercenary were still locked in combat though it was no longer in motion, and Kael…remained where he had been.

Despite this, Trixie could move, and began to look for some cause of this development. What was it with this tournament and interruptions?

“W…what the Hel?”

Trixie looked up to the sky and finally found what she believed to be her answer: a dark scaled dragon with sinister blue eyes that had most certainly not been there a minute ago.

“Interloper!” it bellowed in a disturbing voice that made Trixie quiver. Its mouth formed a bright flame that Trixie could tell was intended for her, only for a figure to leap onto its back and impale it with a pair of weapons Trixie could not make out at this distance. The Dragon roared and began to spiral towards the ground, only for the person on its back to steer it forcefully to a landing outside the arena.

“Woah there! That was a close one, am I right?”

Trixie looked down to find a blonde Gnome standing beside her with a big grin plastered on their face as if they just did something amazing.

Seeing the utter confusion on Trixie’s face, the Gnome giggled and offered a hand out to her.

“Hi, I’m Chromie. Long story short, you messed our timeline up somewhere along the line. Don’t know if it’s backwards or forwards chronologically, but these guys want to erase you so you can stop messing with their plans. They want to control all time, and you kind of messed everything up. I gotta fix a couple things while I’m here, but I the Infinite Dragonflight are never up to any good. If they want you dead, I want you alive!”

Trixie had no idea what the Hel any of this was, and given her emotional state she was not able to really verbalize her feelings except to complain.

“Why does everyone have to try and kill me or kidnap me?”

Chromie shrugged and laughed again, not seeming to understand the position Trixie was in that had been interrupted, “Dunno Queenie, maybe it’s the time thing, maybe it’s the Sunwell, maybe it’s the residual power of whatever brought you here, but boy are you like eight kinds of ‘should not be here’!”

Trixie gave the Gnome another weird look of confusion and then Chromie cursed to herself as she realized that perhaps this wasn’t when she should talk about those things, but rather a later time would be when such matters would be discussed.

“Oh. Not sure you knew about the Sunwell yet. Damnit, how will knowing change things?”

Ignoring the mutterings, Trixie looked back to the immobile Hunter and then back to Kael. The sight of him just laying there with blank eyes made her tremble in both grief and anger. She had not been able to protect him, and he died because he took an attack meant for her.

Yet, despite it all, there was apparently a time traveling Gnome trying to decide what was and was not okay to say to Trixie. It felt so surreal to the in-shock Trixie that she just let it be without questioning it, instead just wanting to get back to what she had been doing before yet another entity tried to kill her.

“You are one crazy Gnome…Can I go back to fighting? My only family just died and I want that woman to bleed.”

Chromie looked over to what was distracting Trixie and felt a pang as she realized she had not come in time to fix things, “I’m sorry about what happened…just gimme a minute.”

Trixie blankly watched as Chromie blasted some smaller black dragons that were circling the area, driving them off and clearing the sky. This done, she turned to Trixie with a sad smile.

“Okay, that should be that. I don’t like doing the actual fighting, usually get a few guys together to do it for me, but those guys are really wrecking us these days.”

Done with vanquishing her foes, Chromie began to channel another spell, one that caught Trixie’s interest because it was rejuvenating her…while also causing the things around them to take a step back in time, the fighters in the arena moving in reverse to how they had as Chromie spoke.

“Now, keep in mind, things are going to revolve around you for awhile, so strange things might happen now and again! I’ll try to keep things from going any more off the rails, but I’ve really got to see about fixing the Wrynn issue…”

Trixie scrunched her brow confusedly, not getting what could be wrong about the Human King while also trying to not show how excited she was getting given that they were going back in time, “Wrynn? What is wrong with him?”

“He’s kinda not supposed to be here. His son should be in charge, with Bolvar Fordragon acting as leader in the kid’s place, with that bi—” Chromie cut herself off with a nervous laugh, “I mean mildly unpleasant person wholikesherbrothertoomuch Lady Prestor aiding him. Don’t tell anyone I said that though, okay?”

The reversal of time stopped and Trixie noticed that things were back before Kael’s death, as she had hoped they would be. Desperate to play things out differently this time, Trixie prepared to once again engage her opponent. She had not been forcibly moved like the others, and so she was standing tall and ready for this instead of on the ground like before.

“Can I go back to fighting now?”

“Yes, fine, fine! Here, I think you’re supposed to win and you’re getting your butt kicked, so try to do better this time!” Chromie pulled a small blue vial out and tossed it to Trixie, “Here, drink this! It’ll give you more mana. And remember, we were never here! I don’t have time to mind wipe you, so just keep quiet about this okay?”

Chromie began to cast another spell, her hands glowing as she prepared to start time’s flow up again.

“And try not to mess anything else up, little miss Queenie! You give me enough grief as it is down the line, I don’t need some now as well!”

She disappeared in a flash, and Trixie found herself experiencing time like normal.

“You would die for a nobody?”

Kael looked to where Trixie ought to be laying, but instead she was standing. He opened his mouth to voice his confusion, but he was cut off by both the Hunter and Trixie speaking at the same time.

“So be it—”

“Kikoho!”

Instead of impaling Kael, the Hunter found herself enveloped in a bright blast of light that knocked her away from him. The force of the attack nearly took her off her feet, but she managed to remain standing after stumbling a few feet.

“What the—”

Kael watched with a mixture of awe and surprise as Trixie continued to blast away again and again at her foe, knocking the woman further and further away from Kael with each attack. Given that each one was larger than the last, Kael found himself grateful that he was on Trixie’s good side rather than her bad side.

When the Hunter stopped moving, Trixie shot one final blast at her and then collapsed down to her knees from the extreme exertion. She had just managed to chug down the mana potion when things started up, and even then it had not given her as much energy as she needed to carry out the entire attack: Trixie was sure that if she did not already have silver hair a few of her hairs would have grown silver from the stress she put on her body in that vicious assault.

Still, it was worth it to her, because as she collapsed Kael was on the ground next to her still with a heartbeat.

“Are you okay?” Kael asked as he ran a hand over her face and cheek. Trixie smiled to him as she rolled over onto her back. She could lay here all day and it wouldn’t even be enough rest with how she felt…

“I think so,” she rolled her head over to look at the other fight happening in the arena, which she had lost track of during her own encounter, “Mercenary, how are you holding up?”

The mercenary on their side had come out on top with a mixture of skill and speed, but he seemed dazed from a powerful blow he had taken. He was busy making sure the Priest was no longer able to fight, IE kicking the man while he was frozen in place, when he heard Trixie’s voice.

“Been better,” he turned and noticed that the Hunter had been blasted all the way over to him, her body bleeding and her armor destroyed. Given that his sword was already hanging by where she lay, the mercenary moved it towards the unconscious woman’s body, “Shall I?”

Trixie bit her lip as she considered what he was offering. A huge part of Trixie wanted to just end the constant threat, to kill the woman who had so harmed Kael…but she also could not currently stomach doing any more harm to her defeated foe. She was not a cold blooded killer unlike the Hunter, and the thought of just killing someone did not sit right with her.

The mercenary seemed to read Trixie’s expression correctly as he responded with a piercing question.

“If she lives, she’ll kill more people. Probably some you might consider innocents or undeserving.”

Trixie shook her head weakly, “That would make us as bad as her. Leave her. We’ll have the guards arrest her so she can do no more harm…”

The conversation ended there as once again another voice interrupted the happenings of the arena field.

“What can I say folks? That match was breathtaking! Once again, against all odds, Team Lulamoon are the winners!”

Trixie felt a hand grip hers and begin to drag her to her feet. She grinned as she felt Kael pull her up and then support her on her feet. She was too tired to stand on her own, but having a living crutch wasn’t so bad either.

“Trixie! Trixie! Trixie!”

Trixie brought a hand up to wave at them all, though her faintness made it difficult. However, moment by moment she felt her power rushing back to her, as if simply being next to Kael was restoring her strength.

Was that what that thing was? Some magic life orb? It would explain why Kael died instantly after its removal…

Trixie shook her head as she felt the last of her faintness fade away. This wasn’t the time for that. She was a champion, and she had hundreds of people cheering her on as if she was a new idol.

She had a plan.

“Thank you, thank you.”

Taking a step forward from Kael’s grip, Trixie gave a showy bow and decided to try and tip things in their favor.

“And, for my next act, I will be invading the Scarlet Crusade’s own stronghold and bringing it to heel. Kargath wants a good fight? I had best get some practice in.”

Gasps and shushed voices filled the stadium in the place of the cheers from before. Trixie hoped they would react well, but it was possible that her invitation would bomb…

“If anyone cares to join the show, we depart immediately,” Trixie continued. After a moment of pause, cheering began again and Trixie smirked. Given how things were going they might have some additional backup for the trials yet to come, and she would be able to use this coming success to spread even more tales of her greatness. They would help her actually succeed at the task, and they would spread her fame as a result of it actually succeeding. It would be a win-win scenario.

Trixie glanced down and saw that Kael’s leg was still bleeding but that the frost had disappeared from it. He would need immediate medical attention, but first Trixie wanted to check something…just in case.

“Hey Kael, did you see a Gnome during the fight?”

“A Gnome?”

That confirmed it. He was dead and not a part of the time stop. Trixie sighed and shook her head.

“Never mind. Must have just been me.”

Why was this world so screwy? And what did Chromie mean about the Sunwell?

And Trixie knew both ended in “ie”, but her name was Trixie, not Queenie. She would have to teach the vertically challenged, kooky midget something about manners the next time they met.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Meta Filler: Ending Themes and Character Info

A/N: Special thanks to Amethyst Blade, somerandomperson, GamerGoddessDin, refferee, SilentMech, Jonuts, and Mister E for your thoughts on last chapter! I'm swamped with work and I'd be put off for entire weeks if not for your support!

Hey everyone, just wanted to say that I’m sorry for the delays. Midterms and illness have been really reducing my productivity in terms of writing, but I am almost free from those shackles!

In the meantime, I thought I’d do something easy and special: a meta chapter that just shows a bit of the story things I have going on in my head when I go to writing chapters. I am including links for extra information, though anything you find on your own that is spoilerific is not my fault, I am merely giving you the means to go out there and look at more things related to the story!

First of all is character info (and image links)! Here is their basic information at this point in time:

Trixie: Level 22 Mage (Frost), unknown power not quantified but at least level 70, main character who is 95% amnesiac but is recently regaining her memories. Partner and close friend to another amnesiac who seems to be Kael'thas Sunstrider.

Kael: Level 22 Mage (Fire), main character who seems to be Kael'thas Sunstrider, though a duplicate one at that. Unsure of what or who he is, he seeks to look after his friend (and love) Trixie.

Lavitz: Level 60 (20) Warrior (Arms)/Monk (Basic), Human soldier who is indebted to Trixie and Kael for saving him from the Deadmines. He needs to recover from his starvation and captivity, and as such is not at full strength.

Nana: Level 5 Mana Wyrm, formerly owned by the Bounty Hunter chasing Trixie and Kael, was adopted by Trixie due to the bad treatment they faced.

Reuenthal: Level 50 Hunter (Survival/Marksmanship), loyal servant to Kael'thas Sunstrider, he is serving Kael as he sees him as the true Kael'thas while the one in power is a madman. A nobleman with a dark past, he pledged his loyalty to Kael'thas specifically for helping him save Mitter'meyer, Reuenthal's best friend.

Mittermeyer: Level 49 Paladin (Retribution/Protection), another loyal servant to Kael, he is the polar opposite of his best friend, but wishes nonetheless to serve Kael and protect their people. Of commoner origins and very family orientated, he and his wife are perfectly happy together.

Vanessa: Level 35 Rogue (Assassination/Subtlety ), an orphan who was forced to take up her father's mantle as leader of impoverished bandits, was recently defeated at the Deadmines.

Bounty Hunter: Level 26 Hunter (Survival), a Huntard through and through, gives chase to Trixie and Kael for gold. Remorseless and a sociopath, has no care for morals or others. Defeated at the arena tournament and taken into Human custody.

Mercenary: Level 45 Warrior (???)/ Rogue (???)/ Hunter (???), a Human who turned on the Bounty Hunter to aid Trixie and Kael.

Kargath (Heroic): Level 70 Warrior (Fury)/ Rogue (Assassination), servant of Illidan and leader of the Shattered Hand clan of assassins and arena warriors. Obsessed with arena battles to a fault, as well as the number one hundred, scars born of his own past.

Sylvanas (Heroic): Level 70 Hunter (Marksmanship/Survival), leader of the Forsaken, the Undead not controlled by Arthas the Lich King.

Varimathras (Heroic): Level 70 Dreadlord, Sylvanas's demon aide, he is secretly planning her downfall.

Dathrohan (Heroic): Level 50 Paladin, Grand Crusader of the Scarlet Crusade. Has an unknown alliance with Varimathras.

Abbendis: Level 58 Paladin, Leader of the Scarlet Crusade. Taking up her late father's mantle, she fights the Undead who plague the land, whether they be of good or evil nature.

Jaina (Heroic): Level 70 Mage (Frost/Heroic), former love of Kael'thas Sunstrider. Noticed him in Stormwind but did not get the chance to meet up with him.

Varian Wrynn (Heroic): Level 70 Warrior (Arms/Fury), leader of Stormwind, though Chromie indicates that this should not currently be the case.

Chromie: Level ?? Bronze Dragon, a timekeeper who disguises herself as a gnome. Intentions unknown, and prone to mixing up if she has met someone yet or not or what they know or should know at this point.

Heroic denotes someone who is multiple times the power as a normal person of their “level”, so Kargath for example would be able to fight multiple normal level 70’s on equal terms. As a level difference of 3-5 can be substantial enough to completely determine a battle’s outcome (unless mitigated by some other factor), Trixie’s current fame is based on how she managed to survive against someone entire tiers beyond where she ought to be at.

Now, for something more fun, I sometimes like imagining ending and opening themes for my stories…as in, I hear a song and I think it’d be great if only I could use it and have animation to go along with it! Alas, I have no such access, but here are some examples nonetheless!

(NOTE: Nothing is too spoilery, but if you want to stay away from any possible spoiler for anything, skip down to the end!)

If I had ending themes to this, my first choice would be the ending to Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Link included so you can watch and see what I mean. Here is an analysis of the ending theme, though take it with a grain of salt with how it applies to this story, given different contexts and whatnot.

I would only make minor changes, such as Trixie subbing in for Madoka herself, then Reuenthal in the place of Sayaka (first one passed), Mitter’meyer in the place of Kyoko (second one passed), Lavitz in the place of Mami (third one passed), and Kael as Homura (fourth one passed).

Reasons as follows (without real spoilers for any of the series mentioned)

Trixie: Main character who has potential, and who (if you have read We Remember Everything or Nothing Lasts Forever) is now given another chance to do things over. Protected by a similar soul, she is wandering towards major events and trying to outrun the darkness that follows her along the way.

Reuenthal: Instead of being the loyal and longtime friend of the main character, he instead plays the part of being Trixie’s longest ally who is not Kael. Similar to Sayaka he has a strong sense of right and wrong as he perceives them, he is uncompromising in what he believes in, and he has personal goals and ambition.

Mitter’meyer: A companion who is strongly tied to the Sayaka character, though in reverse of how Kyoko bonded with Sayaka after initially being fight-to-the-death confrontational, for Mitter’meyer is instead a longtime friend of Reuenthal. He would do almost anything for his friend, who he could not be more different than in terms of personality, making them odd (but true) friends.

Lavitz: A far more powerful fighter than the main cast who is held back by something, he is capable of serving as a mentor to the others as well as keep them safe. He has a deep heart and cares for his companions greatly, much like how Mami bonded with those she taught and looked after.

Kael’thas: Selfishly cares more for Trixie than the situation surrounding them, even though the weight of a world rests on their collective shoulders, much like Homura’s obsession with Madoka. He would do anything to protect Trixie, even if it meant to go so far as make a new world just so they could be together. Like Homura’s obsession stemming from another timeline, Kael’s innate connection stems from his tenure in We Remember Everything while his greater one comes from his tendency to place others before himself, this factor expounded greatly by Trixie becoming his only friend and also the manner she unconsciously reminds him of Jaina in appearance.

For my next ending theme, it would be a more lighthearted one that focuses on an event similar to the one that will be the focus of next chapter: Brewfest. Gathered at a festival of sorts, the song in question is Tabi no Tochuu from Spice and Wolf.

Beginning with the sight of a cheerful and bustling festival, we see Trixie dragging Kael towards the commotion as the latter is rolling his eyes. Trixie takes a free mug of beer as they reach the festival and chugs it down quickly, still having a tight grip on Kael with her other hand.

This drink done, Trixie looks over and sees that there are game stalls set up with prizes and things to be won. With a competitive spirit she runs over to the closest one, where she crosses paths with Reuenthal and Mitter’meyer, the latter of whom is participating in the game to try and impress Evangeline, who is watching happily as her husband exudes the energy and spirit she knows him for.

The game is interrupted by Trixie’s entrance, as Mitter’meyer steps aside and bows to Trixie, who thanks him before trying on her own. She tries, and Kael does as well, but neither do well at the ring tossing involved in the game. After their third failure, Reuenthal coughs and takes a ring. Slowly going through the motion of throwing it to demonstrate a technique, he then manages to succeed on the first try. Thanking him, Trixie then begins hurling the remaining rings with complete success as the others laugh.

As the game comes to a close, Trixie looks for the next activity to participate in while Kael looks and notices that at a bar set up Lavitz is sitting and drinking with a large Pandaren, who is with one hand drinking and with the other warding a far younger Pandaren away from the potent ales he is sharing with the Human. The Younger Pandaren gives up and grumbles, but catches sight of a young girl with blue hair running by and decides to go off and join someone her own age.

The two run past where Trixie and Kael have wound up, another game: this time a drinking contest. Trixie is sitting across from a tall Night Elf, who she quickly and easily outdrinks despite their greater size. The Night Elf bested, she continues on to drink against the Pandaren who had been with Lavitz, who manages to keep up with her much better. Others come to join them and watch as the two continue to try and outdrink the other with increasingly potent brews.

The young children stop running about when the blue haired one bumps into Reuenthal by accident, who had been leaving the crowd. While stoic and cold, he manages a smile at the girl and points her towards the nearby Mitter’meyer and Evangeline, who the girl then runs over to happily. Her Pandaren playmate goes to cheer on her older relative against Trixie as the blue haired girl is hoisted atop Mitter’meyer’s shoulders to get a better view.

Once the contest is over, Trixie is the one still standing, and she does not appear even all that tipsy, though her cheeks are blushed. Kael helps her up while the crowd around them disperses to take part in another event: musicians had begun to play their instruments and the crowd was gathering in the center of the circle shaped festival to dance together with their family and friends.

Trixie takes the opportunity to drag Kael into the crowd and begin dancing along with him, Kael not relenting as much this time and actually smiling as the two once again form the center of attention. Swirling around, making grandiose sweeps with their bodies, the two put on a show for others around them while other people they know all begin to dance as well in the area around them.

Alone on the sidelines of the festivities are Lavitz, Reuenthal, and one other, all of whom are watching as their friends enjoy themselves. As the crowd grows larger and larger they continue to sit aside, though a slightly drunk Reuenthal seems tempted to go. Something keeps him back as he watches them though, his different colored eyes shining as he watches Kael and Trixie enjoy their spotlight.

From the group of dancers, Mitter’meyer smiles to his friend and nods to invite him to join them before once again joining the crowd of happy festival goers. Noticing this effort, Trixie beckons him as well as she and Kael continue to be joined in the center of it all.

Lavitz nods to the other man, encouraging Reuenthal to go as well. After a moment more of hesitation, the half-Elf leaves the sidelines just as a knife swipes down at where he had been standing. Still on the sidelines, Lavitz watches the half-Elf join the others out in the center as he grips the forearm of Vanessa, who he keeps from chasing after her mark.

After struggling at first, Vanessa drops her knives and lets her arms relax. This done, Lavitz lets go and instead ushers her forth to join everyone else. He takes a swig of his beer as Vanessa begrudgingly joins the others, only to find herself welcomed by Trixie and everyone else, the Rogue being led hastily into the crowd by the blue haired child in the group.

With now nearly everyone participating in the festival cheer, things begin to fade while focusing once again on the center where Trixie and Kael revolve around and around as they move to their own pace, Trixie leading with her steps and Kael following.

Once faded out, it’ll be replaced by a picture of Trixie dreaming under the night sky, resting beneath a cherry blossom tree, with Kael sitting beside her and brushing her hair out of her eyes while a light shines down on them.

…and that’s it! I think it’d be much easier to flesh out such ideas if I could sketch them all out but I don’t have the skills to do that or the time really, but it is kind of fun imagining a scene to the music I listen to. This stuff has all been in my head awhile, and I thought it’d be fun to get it out. Feel free to read into any of it as you will, as I do like my symbolism!

Anyways, this is my apology gift for not being able to repay your dedication with a new chapter yet, and I hope it tides you over just a bit until the weekend, when I can finish the next chapter!

Author's Note

If you have any character questions, or reactions to the ending theme ideas, I'm very open to hear them! I hope you all are doing well, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below!

Rest Experience 5: Brewtiful Celebration!

A/N: Special thanks to SilentMech, Mister E, and refferee for joining me last time with our meta chapter. I may do more of those in the future as bonus material things, so I hope to hear from you on them since I'm willing to answer questions and things about the stuff I mention there!

Hope you enjoy this brewtastic chapter, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! This chapter would have taken weeks more to finish due to my workload right now if not for your comments last (real) chapter, so I do hope you will inspire me once again with your comments here!

With a crowd rallying behind her, Trixie managed to corral some of the viewers and some of the participants into joining her on her quest to defeat the Scarlet Crusade on their own turf. The crowd was not an army but rather a random assortment of those willing to join her, starting with the mercenary that she learned was named Bronn, and also two of her previously defeated opponents, the Dwarf and Gnome she faced in the first round. In an attempt to ride off her glory and cast aside their shame at having been defeated so easily they found themselves in her party.

The other participants had not joined her, especially not the now imprisoned Hunter, but those enthusiastic enough in the crowd had. None of them were fighters or soldiers of any known repute, according to Lavitz, but bodies could make a difference. Out of all of them only one stood out to Trixie in that they had dyed hair, blue at that, which led to the following altercation.

“Blue hair? I didn’t think Humans had those.”

“Hey, we can have all sorts of hair! Haven’t you heard of hair dye? Sheesh, especially coming from silver and blue…”

Trixie kept her mouth shut about the issue after that, and was just glad that she had recruited a spirited ally. When they all took to leave Stormwind behind, however, the group ran into a snag: for right outside the city’s walls was a festival that seemed as if it had been sprung up within the past few hours.

“What is this?” Trixie questioned, only for Lavitz to slap his forehead and groan. The blonde soldier sighed and hung his head as he sorted through how to deal with this complication.

“Brewfest? Really?”

A member of the festival, seemingly an officiator of sorts given his uniform and dress, stumbled over to the group and hoisted a wooden mug of beer up into the air…which meant about navel height for most of those gathered, as he was a Dwarf and thus the action was not as dramatic as it may have otherwise been.

“Of course werrrre having a fesst! It’s that, hup, time of yir!”

Lavitz shook his head and scowled, losing his normal good cheer as he thought about how this might delay them given the up and rising event’s popularity amongst many.

“It’s not Fall, you drunkards. Not every month is Brewfest!”

The Dwarf seemed to sober slightly at the scolding, “Oh…” he turned and faced the small grouping of tents, tables, and stands, “Oi! Fellas, it’s not the right timm of yar!!”

Burps, laughs, and hiccups came in response to the displeasure of all that heard them except the Dwarf himself. Having heard their thoughts on the matter, the Dwarf shrugged and drank from his mug.

“Me fellas say they don’t care. Beer is bur!”

Lavitz shook his head one last time as he turned around to face the others, “Yes, it seems so.”

Kael and Trixie were each still confused, but Lavitz began to speak and clear things up before they could question this happenstance again.

“Sorry for not explaining. There is a yearly festival, known as Brewfest, that people of every faction and race partake in. There are pretzels, assortments of cheese, and of course there are all kinds of brews. Given that the organizers this year have not really thought things through, I doubt as many brews have been prepared in time, but the booze they do have ought to be cheap despite its higher than average quality.”

Trixie’s long ears visibly perked up at the mention of alcohol. She had money. Life savings level money, if she were to be frugal. She could afford a glass or fifty of her favorite drink.

“Do they serve wine?”

Kael shook his head after looking over the area and spotting no bottles or glasses for them, “Probably not. Bit too high brow for this low brow crowd I would reckon.”

Trixie nudged Kael and winked at him, “Haha, it’s funny because they are low to the ground,” not realizing that he hadn’t intended to make a joke, she whispered smugly, “I understand humor.”

The group of about ten they had managed to get together from the arena was enthused by the prospect of drinking themselves silly before heading out, and given that most of the day was already over it was agreed upon that they all would participate in the event, sleep the alcohol off, and head out the next morning.

Lots of cheering and boisterous yells greeted Trixie, Kael, and Lavitz to the event as they split off from their allies. It was overwhelming in some ways to the former two, while not phasing the experienced soldier in the slightest. He had been to many such celebrations, and now that they were becoming a bigger thing his only problem was that it was going to set them back slightly on time.

“Drink, drink, drink, drink!” came the shouting of a crowd gathered around two people drinking in a competitive format.

A stall set up by the entrance had a woman in full armor, helmet included, ordering in a tomboyish voice, “Hey, bud, you got any cider?”

“We have some applejack liquors, if you wish.”

For whatever reason that made the woman shake her head and laugh to the confusion of the Human behind the counter, “Hehe, no thanks, I’d laugh too much when I drink it.”

As Trixie and Kael each tried to make sense of the festivities, Lavitz spotted someone across from the entrance who he recognized. He took no time in announcing this, as he lifted an arm up and began both waving and shouting to them.

“Hey, you with the fur! Chen!”

Indeed the man being called to had fur, and by far was not like any of the others gathered at the proceedings. Black and white fur covered his tall and rotund body, which in turn was covered by a black and white robe. He had a jug nearby him that he just finished emptying into the mug of a Human who had been talking to him, and over his shoulder was a staff with what appeared to be more empty containers for liquids.

His sensitive ears picking up on Lavitz calling his name, this ‘Chen’ turned to face him and smiled broadly as he came to join them by the entrance.

“Lavitz my friend! How are you? You seem paler and skinnier since I last saw you. Do they pay soldiers in celery these days?”

Lavitz laughed as he moved to shake hands with the bear-like humanoid whose fur was most like that of a Panda. Kael and Trixie stood back and tried to understand while the two went through their greetings.

“I would have cherished celery the past few months. I was captured by some bandits, only to be freed by my two companions here.”

Lavitz turned back and held an arm out to the two Elves, who Chen seemed confused to see in this setting.

“This is my friend, Chen Stormstout. He and I met when he came to these lands looking for a new brew to make. Chen, this is Trixie Lulamoon and her companion—”

It had taken him a moment, but Chen’s eyes shot open and he jumped back a step and moved a paw to the staff he previously held in one, taking a defensive stance as he finished Lavitz’s sentence, “Kael’thas Sunstrider?”

Kael nodded, not being caught off guard by bad reactions at this point, “In the flesh,” he moved a hand from his chest to his head, “and mind.”

Lavitz decided to be the arbiter to clear things up, since he knew Chen would trust him, “There is a fake pretending to be him currently. He is seeking to take back his position and remove the imposter, who is running their people into the ground.”

Chen relaxed and lowered his second paw-hand, “I see,” this done, he bowed before Kael and gave him respect befitting of a Prince, “I am honored to meet you, Prince Sunstrider. Any friend of Lavitz is a friend of mine. I apologize for my reaction, but, as a traveler, having heard of what happened in Silvermoon—”

He would have finished his explanation if not for poking and prodding on his forearm. Chen looked down to see Trixie looking over his fur with seeming wonder, her face inquisitive and her mind seemingly not understanding that this was an invasion of personal space.

“Uh, yes, I have fur. All of my kind do, so if you wouldn’t mind…”

Trixie didn’t seem to notice that she was being spoken to, instead talking to herself, “Talking panda…” after a moment of thought, she let go of Chen’s fur and pumped her fists in the air, “I’m not alone! Yes!”

Kael gently guided Trixie away from Chen and flashed an apologetic look at the man, “Please excuse her. You are the first Pandaren she has met.”

Chen nodded, not really understanding what Trixie had said but understanding what the Prince had explained. His laid-back personality resulted in him not really caring about Trixie’s insensitive prodding of him, and her seeming closeness to the Prince who she let touch and move her made him even less wanting to bring attention to it, “Ah, well, yes. We do not leave our island very often, and those who do tend to be wanderers such as myself. I would imagine nearly everyone outside Pandaria has little to no experience with my kind.”

Trixie turned to Kael and tugged on his sleeve, whispering as she thought about her new discovery, “Can I ask Chen some questions?”

Kael acquiesced to her wishes and took Lavitz with him to a nearby bar where stools and a couple tables had been set up around a stall with kegs. Once it was just them, Trixie jumped right into questioning the now confused Chen.

“What do you know about talking horses?”

Chen furrowed his brow and laughed at the random and absurd question, “Do you mean centaurs? Or maybe a Dryad?” he paused a moment before remembering a detail from a recent journey, “Oh no, wait, those are deer. My mistake.”

Trixie shrugged, as she was just happy to hear about any and all talking animals from a talking ‘animal’ like herself, “Anything works.”

“Well, I hear that Centaurs are a menace to the Darkspear Isles and I have had minor altercations with them there in my travels, but I cannot say I know them well. Half-humanoid, half-equine beings that are known to be...well, savage. I would not suggest seeking them out.”

Trixie bowed her head and tried to replicate the bow he gave to Kael, but found herself less practiced and it came off in an awkward fashion, “Thank you, Pandaman.”

Chen laughed, finding himself amused by this Elf’s eccentric nature, “Anything I can do to be of help. Why such an odd question though?”

Trixie looked around to make sure no-one was listening to them. After making sure they were clear, she leaned in and whispered, “I may or may not be a shapeshifting horse who changes forms when she sneezes.”

Chen reached into a pocket and produced a vial of what appeared to be—

“Pepper?” Chen jokingly asked, as he extended it out to Trixie.

Trixie shook her head no, not wanting to transform in the middle of a festival. People were beginning to like her, and she did not want to spoil her reputation by becoming a horse all of a sudden, “Hehe, no. No thank you.”

Chen nodded and smiled to her as he put it away, “I can look into the matter more if you wish, as I do travel the world and all of its wonders. I would not mind returning to Darkspear Isles and the shores nearby it to corral information, though I do not know when I would next meet you.”

This was great news to Trixie, who was beginning more and more to want to find out about herself, possibly using these Centaurs to perhaps explain things, “I would be most grateful and be willing to even pay you for your troubles when we next meet.”

Chen chuckled and shook his head no, “Oh, no payment necessary. I would be glad for the experience alone.”

Trixie bowed again, this time doing so in a less awkward fashion, “Thank you, Chen.”

“Oh, I am no longer Pandaman? What is this world coming to?” he laughed.

“What do you think they are talking about?”

Lavitz snickered as he brought a mug of beer to his mouth. He had almost forgotten what it tasted like and was grateful to have some now, especially since some of the best brews came at these festivals.

What amused him though was not the beer, but the transparent jealousy in Kael’s question, leading Lavitz to tease him, “How she loves men with a lot of fur, no doubt.”

The death glare he received did little to spoil his mood or amusement. Sure fire might be able to melt right through his armor, but he knew Kael wouldn’t strike him out of anger nor fire him due to a joke. While they were of different stations, they got along in a manner that did not feel master-servant and Lavitz did not want to segue into such a relationship when he could get along so much better with the man in a friendly way.

“What? It’s not as if she is taken or anything. She is free to talk with whatever men she wishes.”

To Lavitz’s surprise, Kael nodded in agreement without arguing the point at all.

“You are right.”

That put Lavitz off, especially after he just told Trixie to try and win Kael over at the arena. He saw that they were a good couple, but how they had not come to the same conclusion was still eluding him, “Just gonna give up like that?”

Kael shrugged, not seeing any kind of urgency to the topic at hand. He was happy with how things were and did not want to be the one to ruin them, “I’m not all that worried that Trixie is going to run off on me, nor do I see a need to woo her at this very moment.”

Lavitz could see what he was getting at, but that didn’t mean that it encompassed the subject completely or was without flaws, “Say a handsome man with power, wealth, and charm comes and asks for her to join him over dinner. I am sure you know more than a few womanizers, or at least did once upon a time.”

Kael felt his shoulders sink as he thought back to Silvermoon, where he did in fact know of a womanizer who was all of the listed things. But he did not fear Reuenthal poaching Trixie…the man was a loyal retainer and, unlike Lavitz, held the barrier between himself as a servant to his perceived master. He would never so much as look at Trixie inappropriately if he thought Kael had the slightest interest in her, and he most certainly would not regardless due to her partnership with Kael on equal terms. Kael could perceive that to his followers that such a thing equated to “queen-in-the-making”, “mistress”, “consort”, or even just “very close friend”.

But how many other handsome men with a slew of good qualities were there out there? The thought that he might lose out to someone who did not have half the passion for her made Kael’s blood boil, and if he had been holding a glass instead of a mug it would have shattered from his tightened grip.

Seeing that he was beginning to have an effect on Kael, Lavitz spoke up again, though he was making sure to avoid Kael’s eyes as he did so.

“Let me tell you about a love triangle I once heard about: a man fell in love with a young mage who was learning with him, but her heart belonged to another. A Paladin who had looks, charm, and wealth more than almost any other.”

“How did it end?”

Kael was none the wiser that the trio at hand was himself, Jaina, and the Human Prince Arthas who became the Lich King and leader of the Scourge. Lavitz enjoyed the irony of telling him this though, and so he continued to make his point.

“The woman loved the Paladin and followed after him, completely forgetting about her fellow mage who loved her so dearly. He did not win her over and he was forever left with an ache in his heart.”

Lavitz finally looked up and lifted his own beer up partially.

“Don’t be like that guy. Chen isn’t the romantic sort, or even a womanizer, so you don’t have to worry about him, but just because he’s not doesn’t mean that every man is like him.”

Kael smiled and lifted his own beer up as well, appreciating having the support of the man in this romantic matter, “I see your point.”

Their mugs clanked together and each man took a drink, after which Lavitz used his to point at the various activities going on around them.

“There are games and things to do here. I can distract the others and leave you alone with Trixie. Have some fun with her and show her how much she means to you in a subtle, but also obvious, manner.”

“She’s not stupid. Just a bit of a dork,” Kael laughed, “I’ll owe you if this works in any way.”

Lavitz nodded and finished his drink off, “Buy me some of Chen’s own brew then, to make it up for me, the next time he has some to sell.”

By the time Kael finished his drink and left Lavitz to go keep the others in their group from pestering him and Trixie, Trixie was already done with speaking to Chen and had moved on to one of the many activities being done at the event: arm wrestling.

“Trixie?” Kael questioned as he approached her table, where he sat across from a brawny Human whose muscles bulged from his body. If this was about muscle mass alone, he would crush the Elf whose only meat really was in her thighs, but instead it appeared like Trixie was playing with him and not taking it seriously. Some of the festival’s crowd had come to watch and was laughing and cheering as Trixie slowly but surely forced the other man’s arm down towards the table.

“One second,” Trixie told Kael, not wanting to break her focus. She was crushing the other man’s hand in her grip and he was trying his best to not cry out in pain. She wasn’t trying to be sadistic, only trying to force him to give up which would be more satisfying and praiseworthy than simply defeating him in the half second it would take her if she really tried.

After a minute of his pained agony, Trixie slammed his hand into the table in a quick swing that brought him to yelp as she in turn yawned.

“I told you I have the strength of a horse. Do not doubt the Great and Powerful Trixie. Her title is most fitting, as she is as strong as a horse or three.”

“Maybe a pony,” her opponent taunted, though he did not seem to realize that this was not wise when she had not let go yet.

Trixie didn’t bat an eyelash as she twisted him and forced him to flip over the table, his arm’s joints making various pained sounds as she did so. This done, Trixie let go and stretched out while getting up from the table.

“I’m sorry, that sounded like your elbow agreeing with me.”

As the crowd laughed at the haughty and pained man who had challenged Trixie to a contest of strength, hoping to defeat the arena champion, Trixie turned to Kael and joined him away from the others.

“Yeah Kael?”

Plan ‘be subtle but unsubtle’ was about to go into motion for Kael, and so he took a breath as he tried to think of how to approach this subject, “There’s a lot to do here. How about we do something, just you and I?”

Trixie grabbed a mug of beer off the table she had been sitting at and smiled at Kael from behind it, “So long as there is alcohol, sure. We’re going to be here awhile, and besides you, Lavitz, Chen, and Brawny-boy I don’t even know anyone’s name.”

The first thing the totally-not-on-a-date duo came across was an fenced off area where a waist tall harvester was wandering about inside. On one side of the circular fence was a table with mugs on it, with a Dwarf sitting on a stool beside it. Curious about what this was, Trixie led Kael to it and asked what they were supposed to do here.

“Okay, so the game is simple: drink a pint, then chuck the mug at the robot. Have a try!”

Trixie smirked up at Kael and nudged him again, “My pretty boy can’t hold liquor like me, so it’ll be more fun if he does it.”

Kael rolled his eyes as he took a mug to his lips and downed its contents in one go. This done, he pulled his arm back to throw the object while watching the movement of the mini-robot. He could see the many mugs of previous throwers in the area, though Kael doubted they were very successful given how random the spots were while the robot seemed resigned to move about in the very center.

One quick toss later, the mug made a ‘clang’ sound as it bounced off its target’s head. Having succeeded on his first try throwing an object about twenty feet to hit a small target, he found himself comfortable with smugly looking down at his surprised companion.

“How’s that?”

Not about to let herself be shown up, Trixie scoffed and took a drink herself, “My turn.”

She aimed just like Kael, but her throw sailed way past the robot and smashed into the far fence, actually breaking some of the wood as well as the mug.

“Oh.”

Kael laughed as she blankly stared at her mistake. She could swing her whip around decently since it never left her hand, but something lobbed through the air? She was hopeless.

“Strength of a horse, and the hand-eye coordination and dexterity of one.”

“Hey!” Trixie pouted before playfully shoving him. This did not deter Kael from taking another turn and once again succeeding perfectly, his mug once again colliding with the robot’s head as it wandered back and forth.

His success was making Trixie both curious and jealous, so she decided to learn from him to keep from humiliating herself further, “How do you keep getting it?”

Kael leaned in to her and whispered into her ear, “I’m using my own dexterity, firstly, and guiding it slightly with my magic, second.”

Smirking now with her knowledge of his technique, Trixie felt invigorated for her own second attempt, “Let me try that.”

Instead of nearly hitting the Dwarf, the cup exploded a few feet after being thrown, sending wood and metal in every direction as Trixie and Kael each ducked for cover.

The officiator of the game seemed none too pleased, given that it exploded right by them, “Lady, that darn cup nearly just killed me!”

Gripping her fallen hat in one hand, Trixie laughed nervously as she climbed to her feet and tugged on Kael to leave with her as soon as possible.

“New game time!”

The next set-up was a track of some kind, with rams standing at what seemed to be the starting line. Someone was handling the rams when the Elven duo approached, and so they moved towards this seeming Brewfest official to ask about it.

“What do we do here?”

“Ram racing!” the woman dealing with the rams cheered as she finished setting up a harness on the last ram in the group.

Trixie looked over the animals for a moment, her mind’s gears turning as she looked on pensively.

“…I’ll pass.”

Kael patted her on the back and left his arm around her shoulder, “Oh come on Trixie, don’t you want to know what it’s like to be the rider?”

Trixie scoffed and crossed her arms indignantly, “I rode on a dragonhawk just fine, thank you.”

“Come on. You might even enjoy yourself.”

Trixie’s voice lowered to a murmur as her gaze lowered to the ground, “You riding me is just fine since I allow it, but I feel uncomfortable putting another animal through that. Just a personal comfort thing.”

Kael tried to keep a grin off his face at her completely serious statement that was said so shamelessly out of what he hoped was ignorance, “I’ll abstain as well then. What else is there to do together?”

“Announcing the one and only, King Wrynn!”

Each of the Elves turned around to see that an announcer for the festival had climbed atop a table to shout to everyone this news, and surely enough the Human King was standing nearby with a smile on his face. He seemed ready to enjoy the festivities, if his glancing at the various drinks indicated anything.

“Wrynn is here?” Trixie whispered to herself, not really getting why someone like that would come to such a commoner-type event. Was it for some political reason? Or did he really just like drinking?

The King waved to the crowd he now had the undivided attention of, for even the most drunk person in attendance had their head turn at the mention of ‘King’.

“Hello everyone. I was not aware that there would be a Brewfest here today, but I made some time to join you all—”

Trixie gawked as time once again stopped for her, for right as this happened the King before her disappeared in a flash, with Chromie standing by where he had been.

“Phew! Nozdormu will be happy we fixed this…”

Just as quickly as it had come up, time resumed, and Trixie noticed that nobody was looking in that direction anymore, like the King had never arrived in the first place.

“Did anyone else see that? No? Really?”

Kael turned to Trixie with a confused look on his face, but he decided to not question it since Trixie might just be a bit tipsy. He had no idea how much she drank before he came to her arm wrestling match.

“Kael, who has asked us to stop the Scarlet Crusade?”

His memory seemingly unaffected, Kael shrugged as he said exactly what Trixie was hoping he would, “King Wrynn. Why?”

Turning to a nearby member of the crowd, Trixie flagged their attention and began to question them instead.

“Where is King Wrynn?”

The man shrugged just like Kael before going back to what he was doing, “I don’t follow politics, lass, but I think he’s kidnapped or something.”

So Chromie had ‘fixed’ things and Wrynn was no longer in charge…did that make his mentioned son the leader? How would that change things? Were they still being employed? Nothing else seemed to have changed all that much, so Trixie was willing to bet that things were relatively the same right now…

Still, it was beginning to mess with her being the only one to see Chromie do these things. She hoped the Gnome would leave her alone and to her own peace soon enough, or else others would think she was just seeing things.

“Huh…”

Her reverie was broken by another crowd member taking notice of Trixie and whistling.

“What a prittttty lass, with a fin matching as—”

Trixie beat Kael to the punch of grabbing the man’s arm before it could slap her on her behind. A sickening crunch came before Trixie twisted the arm around and then tossed the man to the ground, now writhing in pain.

“Hands off what you can’t afford and most certainly isn’t yours, cretin.”

The man started cursing as Trixie knelt down on one knee to stare at him even closer.

“My mother was the old-fashioned sort, and I am not going to let some creep touch something that isn’t his,” she patted his now broken arm in a mocking manner, “Especially not without a broken bone or two. I hope this has been an informative lesson of how to treat a fine lady such as myself.”

Standing up and turning around to face the stunned Kael, Trixie smiled and acted as if that altercation had never happened even as the man continued to howl in pain.

“I hear music. Want to go see what they are playing?”

Kael nodded wordlessly as Trixie took his hand and led him over, showing the opposite level of comfort to him as she had the other man. He was grateful he was on her good side and could even tease her without any real retaliation, since Trixie just demonstrated that (perhaps after a few gallons of alcohol) she would destroy someone who actually irritated her.

The music at the festival was nothing too special, mainly an assortment of townspeople using what instruments they had in a cacophony of sounds, but a stage was set up at some point for them to take turns. Kael found listening to the music with Trixie to be a nice and soothing alternative to engaging in all the random activities around, especially after he realized that Trixie had decided that she could see better if she used his lap as a booster of sorts to see over the others in the crowd.

Of the many different songs put on for them, the first to stand out was a violin solo that a young man performed as the other noises and things quieted down to allow for his presentation of a song named “Decretum”.

While neither were expert on the subject of music, the solo was quite comforting to the sensitive ears of both Trixie and Kael, who each had started to become overwhelmed by the loudness of the festival with their larger than normal listening devices. Trixie turned around partially on Kael’s lap to look at him, a smile on her face as she realized how nice this was to just be quietly enjoying themselves for once rather than running around manically.

“You should hire him when you get back in charge. He’s quite good.”

His attention had to turn back to Trixie, as Kael had noticed one of the other people to sit down and listen was their blue haired comrade, who seemed especially attuned to the music playing. Once he was looking at his partner again, Kael smiled and nodded over to the Human woman.

“One of the crew we brought with us certainly thinks so.”

When the young man finished to a standing ovation of those listening, Trixie found herself looking around to see if anyone else was going to go up on stage. She was partially entertaining the idea of going up and doing a magic show, but she decided against it since she had not practiced and going unprepared might lead to embarrassment and deflate her current rise to stardom. Still, she was interested in seeing the musical talent of others who might be as good as the last performer.

“Who is next? I like this community get-together.”

Kael laughed as he sensed Trixie’s enthusiasm, though he was hoping for a specific kind of performance and not just any one in particular, “Anything but that random loud noise from before would be nice.”

Soon after he said this, the next performer took stage, this one appearing to be a woman with purple skin and a lithe body.

Trixie put a hand to her chin as she inspected the women further, something about her feeling familiar but she was not able to name what.

“She’s purple, but not a squid.”

“A Night Elf, maybe?” Kael suggested based on what little he knew about their sister-race.

Each of them quieted down as she began to sing, her voice singing a calm and motherly melody to the crowd assembled, making those gathered begin to feel the day’s shift into the night as she sang them what might be a lullaby in other circumstances.

Trixie shifted herself so she could lean her head on Kael’s shoulder and chest, “She is quite the singer. It makes me feel at home.”

“At home?”

Trixie nodded, trying to think through what she just said. Something about singing felt almost innate to her, like it should be far more common than just a result of festivities, “Yes, singing is more…common there, I think.”

Trixie paused as her eyes noticed something else about the singer. They had a habit of moving their body around a lot, which made Trixie uncomfortable given the swaying of hips made her self-conscious of her own pair, for she would die of embarrassment if she ever showed them off in such a shameless fashion.

“The hip swaying is a bit much though.”

Kael laughed and moved a hand to pat Trixie on one thigh, “Think all Night Elves are like that?”

“I hope not,” Trixie muttered as she moved a hand on top of Kael’s, enjoying the physical comfort of sharing touch, “Though I wouldn’t mind if they all have the voice of a Siren.”

“Siren? The wee-ooh-wee-ooh noise?”

“No, the mythological creature. Don’t tell me you all don’t have Sirens in your folklore? Seductress fish people who feed on emotion.”

The description brought Kael to more laughter, though he was not really sure whether or not such beings existed or existed in folklore in this world. After a talking Panda, who knows what else might exist? “Perhaps we do, but I am not the best person to ask. Naga, maybe…”

It was somewhat comforting to him, but when Trixie suddenly stood up and removed herself from his lap Kael felt confused. What was wrong?

Fortunately, Trixie was just stretching and letting out a yawn. She had had a tiring day and she was beginning to feel an ache in her muscles.

“Kael, I haven’t gotten to stretch my legs in awhile. Mind if I go for a walk?”

“Sure. Where do you want to go?” Kael began to stand up as well, but Trixie held out a hand to stop him as he did so.

“I…I kinda was hoping to go alone. I need to stretch all four legs, if you know what I mean, and if you leave with me someone might question why you suddenly have a horse and not another Elf. If I’m alone…”

Kael nodded, understanding her reasoning. He would have liked to go on the walk with her, but he did not want to seem needy or pushy. He already got to have her spend the afternoon with him, with a good deal of it in close contact, so he was satiated that things were progressing well.

“Whatever you want.”

“Thank you…”

With that, Trixie left the festival and wandered into the nearby woods, where less prying eyes would be, leaving Kael behind with the others who all were beginning to run out of steam as well as daylight faded faster with every moment.

With a spare key made specifically for him, Mitter’meyer entered his best friend’s home and began to search for him. Reuenthal had given him permission to come and go whenever he pleased so it was in no manner an intrusion, especially not between two people who were like family to one another.

Mitter’meyer found his friend in a study, his half-Elf friend reading a military strategy book by himself as the day began to end.

Mitter’meyer had brought a small gift, a bottle of wine, to greet his friend and he set it down on his friend’s large table while also announcing his arrival, “Reuenthal, it appears that whoever is in charge of the Brewfest celebrations has arranged the wrong date. They probably mixed up the day and month.”

His more stoic friend smiled as he set his book down, his attention now focused on the blonde Paladin, “Likely after their twelfth bottle of the night, I would assume.”

The truth of the statement made Mitter’meyer give off a hearty laugh, though he soon recovered to offer his reason for coming in the first place, “Care to join me? Might as well take advantage of it while it is here.”

Reuenthal closed his eyes and shook his head no, his smile shifting into a crease, “I believe I will pass. I have dinner arrangements for tonight, and I do not think cheap brews will prepare me well for it.”

Mitter’meyer took a seat by his friend, his own face morphing into a poutier one, as much as a manly man who did not actually pout could at least, “Who is it this time?”

“I do not believe you know her. Some orange-yellow haired woman with a fine voice. This will be my first dinner with her,” Reuenthal looked at his friend devilishly before closing his eyes again and just smirking smugly, “Perhaps this will be the one.”

“I think we both know that won’t be the case,” Mitter’meyer stated, his eyebrows raised in a bemused manner as he looked over at his bachelor friend.

The look he was being given actually made Reuenthal grow concerned. He frowned and displayed his concern on his normally stoic face, removing his flat affect to show actual emotion, “Have you no faith in me?”

Mitter’meyer shook his head, ever candid with his friend, “You don’t like things that are good for you.”

“How about I let you choose for once?”

“Hmmm…” Mitter’meyer began to entertain the prospect for a moment before realizing that this was not perhaps the best idea: all the people he would suggest were people he would rather not have his best friend begin a relationship with only to then break their hearts, and the others were Eva’s friends who he would receive hell over if he let them get hurt in any way, “This feels like a trap, and given your fondness for them and other cunning things, I think it best to think this over before I answer.”

Reuenthal seemed enamored by his own idea and so he pressed on with it, “Oh come now, what could I gain or lose if she happens to have been suggested by you? Perhaps you would be able choose a better match for me than I could myself.”

“Well let us see…” Mitter’meyer looked up at the ceiling as he pondered and counted on his hands about Reuenthal’s traits, “You are cynical, do not trust women, spend countless hours away from home when you are on military campaigns, have a total of one person as a friend, and hate yourself. What kind of women would be great for that?”

If it was said by someone else it would have been a barbed statement meant to insult, but Reuenthal knew his friend spoke only with his best intentions in mind, especially as all of it was true. As such instead of become outraged Reuenthal laughed, “You wound me like a spear through the heart.”

Mitter’meyer snapped his fingers and shot his friend a smug look, “Oh, I’ve thought of the perfect match: someone who despises you and wouldn’t want you around anyways. How many people like that do I know?”

“Some of my past partners, no doubt,” Reuenthal joked, all the while standing up and moving to leave the room.

Mitter’meyer stood up as well to fall into step behind him, “Where are you going?”

“To get a drink. I am afraid some comments spoken to me recently have made me awfully unhappy, and I need to remedy my sorrows,” Reuenthal sarcastically commented, feigned hurt on his face.

“And your date tonight?”

“She is chasing me, not the other way around. Perhaps missing our appointment will increase her drive.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

It took awhile to get everyone settled in, especially since so many of their followers had gotten drunk, but Kael managed with the help of Lavitz, Bronn, and Chen, before he left to travel, to set up camp and arrange tents for everyone to sleep in. The supplies were paid for quite easily with the winnings of the tournament, and others were provided by their hired mercenary who simply took the supplies no longer needed by his old crew and who were no longer traveling as a group anyways. The Elf had bought the supplies, so now that she was jailed he was just repurposing them.

Still, despite the length of time it took for Kael to set up camp, Trixie had yet to return. It was already night and light was fading except the vague hint of a moon beneath the cloudy sky.

“Trixie? Are you there? Trixie!”

It took him very little time to find her because he employed the same method he had the last time he needed to: he let Nana out of their bag, and the Mana Wyrm found its way around the forest until it found where Trixie had ended up.

Trixie was huddled underneath a tree when Kael found her, and she seemed to be awake but severely drunk given her sluggish movements. Bottles and mugs surrounded her where she lay and Kael found himself confused about how she had come across so much alcohol, but he was mainly concerned with if she was okay.

“Trixie?”

She murmured something unintelligible in response as Kael closed the distance between them and knelt down beside her. Nana curled up in Trixie’s arms and nestled into her body, with Trixie mumbling as she began to pet the animal.

Kael’s eyes widened as he realized just how much alcohol it would take to actually make Trixie of all people drunk. How much alcohol did she consume? “Are you drunk? Better question, how are you drunk? I didn’t think you could even get drunk.”

“Bad horsie…” Trixie said in response, not really answering his question in any direct fashion.

“What?”

Trixie rolled over and moved a hand from petting Nana to instead playing with Kael’s long hair as it hung in front of her, “I was gething air as horse-pursen. Met whorse.”

Trixie had come across a horse in the woods…Kael was still confused why this made her drunk. He decided to just let her talk, especially since she might be so drunk that she was just rambling.

“He not talk likke me,” Trixie hiccupped before moving her hand to one of Kael’s long eyebrows and poking at it, “Thinks I’mn his mare.”

Kael’s eyes widened as he realized why she had taken to drinking so much after leaving the drinking festival: a wild horse had likely wanted to mate with her, and she responded with alcohol.

He lowered himself down so he could embrace his very drunk partner, who he was thankful did not seem to be hurt despite drinking herself to oblivion in a forest late at night, “Don’t worry Trixie, I’m here for you,” he gathered her up in his arms and held her tightly, wanting to let her know she was not alone and that he was there for her, “Are you okay?”

Trixie nodded, her face forming a very smug smirk, “Brock jaw. Went bye-bye.”

Kael smiled as he thought back to the festival. Trixie really could handle herself, but he was happy to be there to help anyways. The person he was told he was supposed to be was a selfless Prince who lived for his people…but without the memories of his Prince-self, he felt that same attachment and devotion to the singular person who was willing to be kind to him back at Sunstrider Isle.

Trixie curled up in his arms as Kael lifted her off the group, one of her arms draped around his neck as she continued to groggily and drunkenly mutter, “Pretty…smell nice...”

Kael’s smile persisted as he looked at her innocent body. This was the Trixie he loved, and he was not going to let anything happen to her ever again so far as he could help it, “Let’s get you back to the camp.”

The murmuring response was not what he expected.

“L…love you...”

Kael was about to start walking when his heart stopped.

“W-what?”

Trixie buried her face in his chest, alcohol hanging off her breath as she continued.

“Best frind…”

He knew he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up, but Kael was both happy and sad to hear her say that. She loved him…but as her best friend. Perhaps he could change that, but for now that was more than enough.

“Come on, let’s get you some sleep. You’re going to need it with how much you must have drank.”

“Not now, moth. Er…More train…power…maximum…”

“Hey there. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay…”

“You’ve been working really hard. I brought you dinner, since you forgot it again.”

“Thank you, Princess…”

“Remember part of training and learning is rest, so don’t forget to take care of yourself.”

“Mother…”

Author's Note

A/N: Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! So much to talk about, so many references made, so much I'd love to hear about!

Level 23: The Hangover Part: Trixie, Starring Alcohol and Poisoning

A/N: Special thanks to Amethyst Blade, GamerGoddessDin, refferee, SilentMech, Mister E, Oubliette, and Freya for your comments last chapter and for making this quick update possible! I hope to hear from you again, and I hope you all enjoy!

Stormwind's stint is over, and it's time to move onwards to the realm of the Undead and the crusaders who fight them! Hope you enjoy, and hope to hear from you in the comments below!

Brigitte Abbendis slipped on her left glove with the aid of her recently gloved right hand, her mind blank as she stared at each individual finger. There was so much to think about at that point that she did not even know where to begin.

While unsure, she did manage to make a decision after brushing her tussled hair out of her eyes: for someone as dedicated to her duty as she was, thinking of the Scarlet Crusade and their duty to it came easily for her as compared to what else she had on her mind.

"The Monastery is going to be engaging in conflicts of increased frequency and scope soon. They'll need more healers, and you have been assigned to go join them I hear."

"I apologize," came the voice of the other in the room.

Brigitte looked back to the man sitting still on his own bed. She had found her admirer just in time for them to have to leave. Still, she had sought to spend time with him before he left for what might be months for his new post.

"No, it's fine..."

The Crusade had once accepted other races such as Elves into its ranks, but the growing paranoia of the organization had led to them being run out or even executed. In this instance the only non-Human blood in him was the lithe body he held, as well as his unnatural control for magic. Sure, some Humans could be skinnier than others and some just had a knack for magic, but Brigitte felt that there was more than simple chance behind the high cheekbones and the mysterious powers he brought to his job as a Priest in the ranks of the Crusade. Perhaps generations ago his family had accepted Elven blood into it…trading the resilient spirit of Humanity for the gift of magic.

Abbendis turned away from him. She had best keep her mind from analyzing things too much, lest she become too attached. As his superior officer the relationship was already forbidden, and to let her mind wander further

"Just come back in one piece, okay?"

While it was selfish to say, Brigitte wished that for each of her soldiers for an unselfish reason: each of them that fell in battle could be raised from the dead to serve the Scourge. Still, in this circumstance it was a more selfish rather than pragmatic one.

"I’ll try.”

Uncomfortable, Brigitte made her way to the door and paused to listen: no noises outside showed that, as arranged, no-one was on patrol.

"I should go now.”

And like that, Brigitte departed the room in the early hours of the morning, her mind already flooding with what else she had to do that day…after, of course, actually sleeping and freeing her body of aches it was not used to.

Coming events would introduce her to even new kinds.

Half the morning had passed by before the light shining through a tent managed to stir Trixie, whose head was exploding in pain as she moved to get up.

Unfortunately for her, her feeble attempt to get up only resulted in her flopping right back down the moment she rose up at all.

With the sunlight burning her eyes and her head in such great pain, Trixie fumbled about to bring an arm over her face. Was this what the dreaded hangover felt like?

“I hate everything…”

“No you don’t.”

Trixie felt a body move next to her, and she suddenly became aware of Kael’s presence in the tent. Him sharing a tent with her did not irritate her, but the splitting headache she was suffering put anyone in close proximity to her in her bad graces.

Still prone on her back, Trixie tried using her other arm to find and shove Kael away in her blinded state, “And I hate you the most. How could you let me drink enough to actually feel it?”

Kael caught her arm and gently held it, easily able to manage himself against Trixie’s sluggish struggle despite her strength. She was not thinking straight and might actually inflict damage on him if her arm lashed out without control, “If I remember correctly, you went off on your own and drank without any input from me.”

Unable to shift the blame, Trixie sighed and admitted her own guilt. She honestly had no clue why she drank so much the previous night, but she did remember kicking someone’s face for something perverted. Whatever the case, she was sure nothing had happened or else Kael wouldn’t be happily brushing her hair away from her and stroking her cheek. He’d be committing atrocities and burning someone alive, perhaps even making a new sport out of how long he could make them scream.

And that’s why Trixie felt herself blushing as Kael sat beside her. She would blame it on her hangover if asked of course, but even in her searing pain she could realize that whatever had happened, Kael had found her and brought her back safely.

She was too weak to put up any mental barriers around what she might otherwise ignore or pretend to not notice: was Lavitz correct about Kael having feelings for her?

Trixie hoped the soldier was wrong…she wouldn’t know what to even do if her best friend no longer treated her as a partner but rather a woman. The way things were, she was happy…and if she was to be honest, she could not remember feeling this comfortable in what felt like years. They were in danger constantly, people sought to kill them, and they had to fight just to eke out a living, but every step of the way she was with her trusted companion who always was there to help her…even fight through an entire death of thieves and killers to save her.

He’d taken care of her after she passed out the night before…even if he had let her go off alone. Trixie couldn’t even tell then if she had wanted him to argue and come with her, or if her logical explanation about why he shouldn’t was the truth of the matter.

“Then promise to never leave me again and I’ll forgive you for your lapse in judgment.”

Kael let go of her now still arm, letting it fall gently to one of the blankets they had before moving his same hand down to take hers and gently squeeze it.

“I promise,” Kael softly spoke, though even that was enough for the increasingly awake Trixie to realize another of her problems: that noises made her headache worse.

Trixie squeezed Kael’s hand and rolled her head away from him, “Not so loud. Hurts…”

Kael smirked, part of him curious just how much alcohol Trixie had consumed before he came across her. His own head hurt and he had only had a few, “Even my head is tingling a bit.”

Trixie broke out in a small grin at the thought that she could outdrink her partner, since he was bigger and all…while she was in this form, “You Elf princelings and your weakness to alcohol…you drank like a hundredth of what I did.”

Kael moved a hand to his head as a wave of dizziness washed over him, his attention shifting from Trixie as he noticed his own pains more, “Possibly, though it is hard to tally up just how much you drank since I wasn’t there when you were doing it.”

“When are we leaving?” Trixie yawned.

“When you are feeling good enough to do so. I wouldn’t wait too long though. Your adoring fans might leave you if you don’t attend to them.”

“Yes, yes…” Trixie pulled the soft blanket she had available to her over her body and stretched out spread-eagle to perhaps release some of her body’s tense achiness, “Let me sleep more…tired…”

Realizing that Trixie would probably be out awhile more, Kael nodded and moved to stand up. He would have to be productive to keep things going in case anything came up, since Trixie needed to recover from her poor decisions of the last night.

Unfortunately, Kael stumbled as he rose to his feet. The pain wracking his head was revealed to not be unique: upon moving his body upwards he felt the pain also take place in his other limbs in a slow but searing manner, as if something was cutting into him.

Put off by this, Kael barely managed to start explaining what he was going to do before he lost the ability to speak, “I’ll…”

The wave of pain passed and Kael fought an inner-battle to stay upright, giving him time to start speaking again.

“I’ll…”

Trixie’s closed eyes and half-awake status kept her from watching him fall onto his knees and then complete the fall right on top of her, his head resting on her body as he lay strewn about in an unconscious and unmoving state.

“Yes, you can sleep next to me…sleepy time…no moving…”

"Trixie, remember to sit up straight. I will not have my student slouching at the only dinner she remembers to attend."

"My apologies, Princess Luna."

"It is okay. I just want to make sure you look your best. Celestia and Twilight will be attending too, and from what I hear Twilight has poor eating habits. This is a good opportunity to look good, so we must take every precaution."

"Are you sure I can wear this?"

"That jewelry once was mine when I was younger...it does not fit me anymore, so you should wear it for formality's sake."

"Thank you, Princess..."

"How foolish of you to come alone...but who am I to judge? Vengeance makes us do the most foolish of things..."

"Welcome to the future...a pity you're too late to stop it. No one can stop me now."

"You gambled...and lost."

"I'll turn your world...upside...down."

"My demise accomplishes nothing! The Master will have you! You will drown in your own blood! The world shall burn!"

“Kael, Trixie! It’s time to get up!”

The unwelcomed alarm clock of a yell came from Lavitz, who was outside the very spacious tent reserved for Trixie and Kael. The former stirred at the noise, having slept off a good deal of her remaining hangover over whatever period of rest she had accrued since she last woke.

“I hear you…”

Trixie realized that her immediate attempt to sit up was hindered by a body on top of her. With long blonde hair laying across her face and a head nestled in her chest, Trixie rolled her eyes at how Kael had decided to sleep, only letting it go because she doubted he slept so brazenly on purpose.

“Kael, wakie-wakie.”

He didn’t respond whatsoever, though the small breathing he displayed at least confirmed to her that he was alive. Besides being on top of her, his arms had moved to tangle themselves with her body, as if he had been hugging her in his sleep.

She didn’t want to be rude by forcefully moving him off her, so she continued to try and wake him up with her voice.

“You can stop hugging me now…for Mother’s sake, come on Kael…I know you’re comfortable and all, but—”

Something caught Trixie’s attention and she quickly went about moving his head to confirm her fears: her shirt had been wet, and Kael’s eyes were wet.

He was crying in his sleep.

“Kael?”

Trixie shook him gently, fear rising in her as the issue moved from merely getting him off her to worrying if he was okay.

“Kael, this isn’t funny. Get up.”

When her shaking of his body did nothing to stir him at all, Trixie found herself panicking. She forced him off her and placed him down where she had been, increasing the strength with which she shook him in a futile effort to get him up.

“Lavitz!”

Without any hesitation the soldier burst into the tent, spear bared and prepared to fight off any threat. To his surprise though all he saw was Trixie shaking an unresponsive Kael, whose face looked pained and even seemed paler than usual.

“What the hell?”

Trixie waved for Lavitz to approach and the Warrior did so, kneeling down next to Kael to get a better look at him. As he did his own examining Trixie began to vent her own worries.

“What the Hel is right! Dear Luna, he won’t wake up, and look at how pale he is!”

It didn’t take long for Lavitz to realize what was wrong, and he stood up while shaking his head.

“After the battle at the arena, you two were healed by the officiators of the event. Normal healing does not remove poisons. If he didn’t know, he couldn’t have asked to have it fixed.”

“You mean that woman poisoned him during the fight?” Trixie gaped, her detest for the awful woman rising even greater than it had been previously.

“At some point, yes. Given that she’s been intent on hunting you, it seems that whatever it is seeks to render its victim vulnerable. A fast acting poison would have been disallowed and she would have been punished by arena and Stormwind officials alike, since poison in matches is forbidden and many forms are illegal substances.”

“There has to be someone who can help him,” Trixie pleaded, though Lavitz’s head hung glumly as he thought through their position.

“If we bring him into town to be healed, recover, and then rest, he’ll surely be identified at some point along the way.”

“Bolvar Fordragon, the regent of Stormwind, won’t want to keep an allied, yet publically opposed, person around…the political scandal could prove disastrous, and we can’t trust that Kael would be safe in anything less than Stormwind’s keep,” he paused to sigh in exasperation, the situation unfolding before them making him more and more uncertain about what to do, “That’s not even accounting for the task Fordragon has given us of taking down the Scarlet Monastery…”

Interrupting them, Kael coughed up blood and writhed in pain for a moment before settling down where Trixie had lain him.

Not willing to let him break his promise so soon after making it, Trixie clasped her hands over one of his and pleaded with him, “Kael, come on, you can’t die like this. Wake up, you idiot!”

Lavitz thought over the poison’s circumstances more and began to posit out loud his thoughts on it, “The effect seems to be slow. It must have crept up on him during the night: a perfect poison for a possibly long lasting hunt that could not involve the usage of fast acting poisons. This slow speed might serve to our advantage, as it will give us more time…”

He smashed the pole of his spear into the ground in anger. While experienced, he could only personally handle the most mundane of poisons with a full medical kit. He had neither conditions working for him with this odd poison that was putting his companion through so much pain.

“Damnit. I’ll be sure when I write to Anduin to have that woman’s sentence extended.”

Trixie nodded weakly, her own pains forgotten as she watched her friend suffer beside her. She needed to do something to save her beloved friend, but what to do did not come easily to her since all the simple options she could think of were not viable.

“We can’t return, and I don’t really know what to do, but…”

Something Lavitz had just said struck her like an arrow and Trixie felt her tension lower as she found her solution.

“Scarlet Monastery.”

Lavitz tilted his head, not seeing yet what Trixie meant, “What?”

“It’s a Monastery. Are there Priests there? They can heal people, right?”

“You’re right. We had best make haste then.”

Trixie nodded, “We rush to them and, if we do not find someone who can help on the way, we force one of them to save him. Their healing magic helped at the arena, and it can help now.”

“As you wish.”

To move out they all needed to gather up everything from their makeshift camp, which would go quicker with as many hands as they could manage to have working on it. It was for this reason that Trixie found herself approaching the mercenary man who had tagged along with them, a man named Bronn whose unscrupulous morality meant that while he was hunting them a day ago he now was aiding them.

He was sitting around the long since dead campfire fixing his nails with a kukri when Trixie approached him, but he put the blade away in a sheath on his back when she drew near.

“Brawn, so what specifically is it that you do?”

She did not want to demean a trained soldier by telling him to act as a servant, but she also did want to use him however she could if it meant she could save Kael. The more she knew about her allies’ capabilities, the more she could use them.

Bronn shrugged, not getting up to bow to her or anything formal, “Just about anything if the pay is right, though past employers have bought my services with my capacity for…” he glanced down to the sword at his side, “Aggressive diplomacy.”

Trixie rose her eyebrow at the euphemism, “Aggressive diplomacy?”

A flat affect met Trixie and put her off with how casually the man spoke about the subject, “I’m the sort that when you’re done talking all nice with someone, you give me a nod and when the unfortunate fellow you were talking to leaves, he just so happens to disappear and never be seen again.”

Trixie fought to keep from having her voice waver, “Murder.”

“A rose by any other name. I can also guard and fight on the frontlines of war, but the pay has to be worth it,” Bronn offered as an alternative.

That gave Trixie an option that didn’t go against her morals, so she pounced on it, “Guarding is fine for now. We have gold to pay you now, but I’d like to know how much you charge.”

“You’re looking for fame, and the prince is looking for his crown,” Bronn rubbed his thumb and index finger together, “Me? Some gold will do. Twenty percent of your total earnings across the board comes my way, or twenty five percent if it is only you, the prince, the soldier, and I.”

Trixie studied the bold yet calm man as she thought over his claim. Kael had more experience with the man, but she knew he was a capable soldier. As far as his business proposition, it was actually reasonable…except for how the flat rate for a group larger than four could mean that if they had twenty people he would be taking in one fifth of the total income.

Lavitz moved towards the two and took his place silently behind Trixie as she made her counter offer, “Twenty five when we are in a group of four is completely fair. Until you prove your worth though, you’ll get ten percent of our group’s earnings. When Kael awakens we’ll renegotiate. Until then, you’ll protect us, up until either we terminate your employment or you allow harm to befall Kael or I that you can possibly prevent.”

“You have the mind of a businesswoman,” Bronn smirked at Trixie, “I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. We’ll go by your terms.”

Pleased that she had acquired the services of a decent soldier for her personal use, Trixie realized that Kael was alone in the tent and they had no way of knowing if he was getting any worse. They likely shouldn’t leave him alone until they knew more.

“Brawn, go with Lavitz. Organize the others and get them ready for our journey. You report to him just as you report to Kael and I.”

Trixie left the other two and moved back to her own tent, where Kael still was. A silence remained between the Stormwind soldier and the mercenary, each looking over the other and feeling them out.

Once Trixie was out of earshot, Lavitz finally spoke up, “You’re working for money, and I understand people like you. Let’s get this straight though. I do not trust you, mercenary, but we need help.”

“Perceptive, aren’t we?” Bronn snarked as he stood up, rising up to look the Warrior straight in the eye all the while smiling.

Lavitz ignored the smug look and stared into the man’s black eyes, “If someone tries to buy you out, you come to me first. I am in charge of protecting those two, and I would like to keep them from having to deal with such shady situations.”

“You’ll make up the difference in gold?”

Lavitz nodded, for he was willing to do whatever he could to protect the others, “I will, or otherwise make it up to you.”

Bronn nodded and stepped back, moving to grab a pair of mugs that sat nearby the campfire. Ale still remained in them, and the mercenary offered one to the other man.

“To a beautiful partnership.”

Lavitz held a hand up and smiled, grateful for the gesture but also not desiring the drink.

“I do not drink on duty.”

Bronn smirked again, as if he had been validated.

“There it is.”

Without outward antagonism, the two went about gathering and rounding up the others who were coming with them. While some were suffering from some minor hangovers, everyone still was willing to go on the journey, and with their help the camp was quickly put away.

The last part to be finished was the largest tent, out of which Trixie emerged with Kael slung over one shoulder. Everyone except Lavitz and Bronn seemed surprised while those two just appeared amused, as Trixie had fully dressed Kael in his armor so that he would be protected, yet she still managed to lift him up like she was just putting on a backpack.

“Okay everyone, we’re heading out. Destination: the Scarlet Monastery!”

Noticing that everyone was in awe of her once again, Trixie chuckled at their expressions.

“Don’t mind my friend here. He’ll be fine. Hopefully by the time he wakes up we will have already captured the Scarlet Crusade’s base.”

She was lying of course, but telling them the truth would do little good. For now she could pass off his illness as merely a hangover, and reveal once they were already on the road more about his condition. Starting the journey off on the foot of “my partner is dying” would not instill much morale.

They’d make it through this…everyone, if she had any say in the matter. Even their opponents, which would be the real trick…but if she could pull such a feat off, Trixie was sure she’d be an instant idol.

If she had to accomplish it with Kael over her shoulder, so be it.

Author's Note

Huntards don't play fair and should die. Except Reuenthal...though I'm sure a certain Rogue feels differently.

Hope you enjoyed, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below!

Level 24: Dreaming of You

A/N: Special thanks to SilentMech, refferee, Freya, and ILurvTrixie for your thoughts last chapter, and I am sorry for the wait! My computer died and deleted the chapter right before I finished it awhile back.

I hope you enjoy, and I hope to hear from you all in the comments below!

“Well here we are. Any food you want at any point of the day is available here.”

“I can eat anything?”

“Why you could try the tables and chairs for all I care, but I doubt they would be very appetizing. I will warn you that you should stay away from cake, as Celestia has a weakness for it and may grow angry if there is not enough for herself.”

“Trixie?”

“Twilight?”

“What are you doing here?”

“She is my guest, as well as my first student.”

“Oh, wow, congratulations?”

“Thank you for your letter, Princess.”

“Oh, that little thing? Just a joke, haha.”

“Letter? Joke?”

“One of the first things Princess Twilight here did was add ‘The Great and Powerful’ to the beginning of my name. I don’t care about that, but she signed it with ‘Princess Twilight Sparkle’ as if to rub it in.”

“Am I sensing this is going to be a…thing?”

“Not if you don’t want it to be, Princess Luna.”

“I do not care honestly if you two do this little childish routine so long as it does not interfere with anything else. Twilight, you will stop sending childish letters when you should be doing paperwork. Trixie, you will be learning a spell to turn her into a sheep should she continue pestering you.”

“Sheep?”

“Does the pact between our people mean nothing to you?”

“You long ears tried helping the Naga. For that you’re being put to death, simple as that.”

“They helped us when you abandoned us to our deaths!”

“Come on man, stop listening to the prisoner. He’ll say anything to get out. Garithos will have him executed soon enough.”

“Father, I’m sorry…I couldn’t save our people…”

When Trixie awoke the next day from a nap she did so groggily, as if disturbed from the wrong sleep cycle. Despite the physical pains she felt though Trixie was mentally cognizant, and because of this she realized on some level that she felt so out of it because she had woken in the middle of a dream.

Only the dream didn’t feel right for some reason. Like it was both parts familiar and wrong.

Given that the group was unused to traveling they made little ground on the first day and only ended the day at an inn in the Elwynn Forest that began at the edges of Stormwind’s gates. Fortunately a flight service was nearby and the next travel day would be more productive, but for the moment Trixie was glad to just have things going. She was not a troop commander, not yet at least, and Lavitz was uncomfortable ordering civilians around like soldiers so there was a lack of strength in their leadership at the time which made organization difficult.

Despite this, Trixie was confident things would go their way.

They had to.

Rising from the bed on which she had been sleeping next to Kael, she noticed that he too was stirring. The night sky was still out and the voices of others clamored outside, making Trixie realize that she had woken up in the middle of the night while the others were still out and about. She had slept early since Kael seemed to be in the least pain when she was around him, though sadly the Inn had little to give them in terms of helping him besides a healing potion that made him capable of consciousness yet just as poisoned and pained as before.

Trixie brought a hand to kael’s head as he squirmed underneath the covers she had afforded him. He felt like he was burning up, though Trixie was unsure if that had anything to do with his magic or not.

“How are you feeling?”

Kael opened his eyes just a crack to glimpse at her, “Alive, if the pain means anything,” he glanced over to the table nearby the bed and brought a hand out to grab at something on it, “Lavitz’s books on tactics are proving quite the read.”

He had read pieces from their friend’s tomes brought with them once they settled down at the Inn, having realized they would not be going anywhere else that day and Kael too miserable to move about like the others.

Trixie sat back down next to him and helped him take the book into hand, at which point she helped set it up for him to read in his position, “I read one by some guy named Uther while you were sleeping earlier. And another by Datt…Dathro…Dathrohan?”

Books were shorter than Trixie thought they ought to be, but that made skimming them easy. It also made it easy for Lavitz to bring a slew of them with him in a single bag, giving them access to a lot of material to go over.

Whereas Uther’s book spoke about ways to protect civilians, Dathrohan’s spoke to how to cunningly annihilate one’s enemies. Trixie appreciated the practical aspects while paling at the manner in which he so callously wrote about how to slaughter one’s foes. In case a future fight was escalated to the point of life and death, Trixie kept the practical suggestions in mind while also hoping it would never come to that.

Kael smirked despite his severe pain, amused by the idea of Trixie reading warfare books, “He has a series of literature, meant for the Scarlet Crusade’s perusing I’d assume. Lavitz likely…liberated it from them to add to his library.”

“Is it stealing if they are dead?”

“I suppose so, since it should go to their next of kin. But these Crusaders have entire contingencies on eliminating their own people if they are even so much suspected as being Undead or similarly corrupted…” noticing Trixie’s look of reservation, Kael moved a hand to try and console her only for his arm to violently shake and collapse on its way, “They aren’t the sort we should shed tears over.”

Thinking about their approaching enemy, Trixie found herself saddened by how these possible allies against the Lich King’s Scourge instead were maniacal zealots who may have been born of tragedy but who also were playing a role in creating new tragedies for even more, “The Scourge and the Undead…the former seek to kill everyone, and the latter seek to only survive. I wish these fanatics could tell the difference or I wouldn’t even oppose them on their crusade, really. They are dragging innocents into a war they have no part in.”

It was not lost on Kael that his partner was completely out of place in this world. Beyond her transforming nature, she was nowhere near as malevolent as the beings they were surrounded by. Even Kael found himself killing with ease, even if he did not care for the brutality, while Trixie was anything from a born killer. Wherever she was from, they likely were a more peaceful race with far less physical dispute than killing everything and anything in one’s way as Azeroth seemed inclined towards.

“Trixie…”

Trixie took his shaking hand and smiled down at him, her face sad as she looked over Kael’s weak form. He was even paler than normal, “I’m alright…” her hand brushed across his face until she reached the space just below his eyes, where a certain familiar wetness caught her attention, “Are you though? You were crying in your sleep…”

Kael slumped back in the bed, “I cannot even remember my dreams right now, thankfully…perhaps when I am more h…”

“Were you dreaming about being imprisoned?”

Kael blinked at the sudden and very odd question. It struck a cord in him, but he still was not recalling it.

“That…”

Before he could come up with a full response Trixie stood up and ended the conversation with a shake of her head.

“It’s no matter,” she leant down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, “You get your rest. I’ll be back after I’ve worked out some details about our own personal crusade.”

The flight the next day would take them extremely close to their destination, at least as far as the continent was concerned, and so it was about time they decided their plan of attack. So with this in mind Trixie rushed out of their rented room and headed downstairs to the Inn’s main floor, intent on leaving Kael behind so she would not have to continue their conversation any further. He would have Nana to look after him, so she was sure everything would be fine given how smart Nana was. If he took a turn for the worse she knew Nana would come to her and get aid.

Mostly made of wood and other common materials, the Inn had a kind of simple home-y feel to it, and Trixie could see a couple of the members of her group sitting around the hearth and talking. Lavitz was chatting with a Human with blonde hair and glasses while the blue haired woman in her group, Sayaka, was working on fixing a broken violin that had inhabited the Inn.

Outside Trixie could hear singing and cheering though, and so she had her attention drawn that way. Upon exiting the Inn she noticed that a crowd of about a dozen was gathered, with someone at the head of it doing something of note. Someone finished singing a song for the group when it was Bronn that next came to the group’s head, a mug of beer in hand as he opened his mouth and too began to sing.

Catching Trixie by surprise, despite his shifty looks the mercenary proved himself a capable singer. In fact, Trixie found his performance to be on the level one would expect of a professional vocalist.

When he finished to a large round of applause and another Human took his place and began to perform, Trixie approached Bronn to give her own congratulations.

“That was beautiful. I did not know we had such a talented singer with us.”

Bronn smiled at the praise, but he shrugged at the subject, “Fighting and killin’ pays better unfortunately.”

Trixie realized that what he said was likely true here, but it did not feel like the same could be said for what she could grasp about her own society, “From where I am from you could make quite the living as a singer.”

Oohs and ahhs from the crowd disrupted Trixie’s conversation with Bronn, and the two turned their attention to what was so captivating the Humans sitting around the campfire.

The subject of attention was a lithe male Human with piercing eyes and thuggish look to him, but his face was handsome and topped by blonde hair that was a darker shade than Kael’s and more golden than yellow. He was, to the sound of a music box, performing a ballet dance with incredible precision of movements and grace. His dark clothing made him almost difficult to see in the dead of night, but the flickering fire illuminated him enough to show off his skill at dance.

Impressed by the performances she had witnessed thus far, Trixie was amused enough to inquire about this particular performer, “Who is that?”

Bronn shrugged again, not having asked the other man’s name nor even talked to him in their time outside, “One of the others here at this Inn. There’s a guy who looks a little like him inside.”

Observing the ballet dancer further, Trixie found herself really noticing the similarities between the man and her partner, “He looks like Kael a little.”

The mercenary took another look over the man and found the same link, even noting that the Human could pass for a physical double of Kael if he had longer ears, eyebrows, and glowing eyes, “Blonde, fit, on the skinnier end. I can see it,” Bronn watched as the man continued his performa-nce and smirked to himself, “Only, Prince-boy doesn’t dance as far as I know. Not like that at least.”

Still amused by the talent she was surrounded by, Trixie murmured, “I will have to see about making him when he gets up.”

She did not end up seeing the end of the dance as a hand tapping her shoulder interrupted her. She turned to see that Lavitz had left the Inn and was seemingly excited about something, for while he was not bouncing with energy he had a definite smile plastered on his face at this late hour.

“Trixie, I have spoken with someone who wishes to join us.”

“Join us?”

“His name is Tony. He and his brother have some insight I think could prove useful. They each seem a motley sort, but sound genuine. I will introduce you.”

“After this dance finish—”

She turned and found that the performer had already taken his farewell bow and was leaving to go inside. How someone could move so quickly and silently was beyond her, but even the crowd seemed surprised by how easily he slipped by.

“Trixie’s her name. One who fought Kargath…Wait, come to think of it, I think I knew a Trixie once.”

The man with glasses inside was sitting down when his older brother joined him in the Inn, the two men quickly jumping to the subject of business when they joined.

The older brother gave the younger brother a small yet amused look, his voice thick with an accent, “Knew her vell.”

The younger brother smirked before he gave a nonchalant shrug, his own voice laced with a smaller accent but it still crept into his speech, “Might have been Pixie…oh who can keep up vith all of these hooker names.”

“What’s a hooker?”

The two turned to see that the woman they had been about to speak about was here, the one with the name of a hooker who apparently had no idea what a hooker was. They each shot each other a glance before looking back to her with polite smiles. Or, at least the younger one smiled. The elder instead tried not to adopt his normal grimace.

With Lavitz muttering something to himself besides her, Trixie decided to let her question go unanswered if it meant someone would speak. She offered a hand forward and quickly had the gesture returned by the glasses wearing man, “Hello, I am Trixie Lulamoon. I am the one leading this expedition, along with my partner Kael, who is busy resting.”

The younger brother gestured to the table he sat at and Trixie graciously took the seat offered, with Lavitz standing behind her and looking over her shoulder.

The man with glasses gestured to himself and then to his sibling, “I am Tony and this is my brother Karl. Vord has spread of your battle vith Kargath. For an arena champion and expert such as himself to be fought to a standstill is quite ze impressive feat, Miss Lulamoon. Especially since he nearly murdered Lady Proudmoore right after. That makes you even more remarkable.”

Trixie fought off a gasp as she realized why Kargath was in Stormwind, managing to stave off the noise by adopting a tight smile and keeping her lips pursed, “Thank you, Tony. Now, what can I do for you?”

“Businesswoman. I approve,” Tony pulled out a scroll and placed it down on the table for Trixie to view, “Now, my brother and I have had dealings with zhe Scarlet Crusade in one vay or another and by chance have a map of zheir Northern base. Zhe Monastery.”

Seeing the value of such an item, Trixie hastily cut to the chase, “Can we buy it from you?”

Tony shook his head no, but he went on to explain it with his partial accent, “I am offering to you my services as vell as my brother’s. I have technological skills and he is a skilled Hunter and vell trained in infiltration, and we vill bring our map with us.”

Trixie glanced at the other man, the ballet dancer named Karl, who had once again silently done something: this time brought a crossbow out of nowhere and he had begun to toy with it, seemingly inspecting it to make sure it worked while making sure it was not pointed at anyone.

“SI-7,” the stoic Karl added when Trixie and Lavitz continued to look him over, each of them not all that fond of the word “Hunter” at the moment. His statement seemed to placate Lavitz while confusing Trixie, so the soldier leant down to whisper in her ear.

“They are Stormwind’s intelligence agency…our spy network. If he is telling the truth, he can be an asset.”

Tony could sense that they were favorable to the deal, so he spoke again as he slipped into and out of his accent, “We come with you, and we all split a share of the gold zhey have locked away in zheir vaults. We vere planning on gathering a crew to steal from zhem in the future, but I see no reason why ve cannot use this opportunity.”

Trixie knew well the importance of money, and the idea that with these two helping they could deprive the Scarlet Crusade of a major source of money actually sounded good to her. She mulled it over to herself under her breath, “You take their money, you ruin their operation in the region…”

When she decided that this indeed would be helpful, Trixie snapped her fingers once and smiled beamingly at the two brothers. This would bring their total trained warriors count up to five, since she had a plan for Bronn that meant he would not be with them. Five fighters was much better than three, and made for quite the party of fighters.

“Empty their vaults, take the valuables from them, but do not take trinkets or jewelry from those inside. We will get you to your vault, but we are not thieves. This serves our purposes, and our purposes do not include making them starve to death. We do not want casualties as well, so only do what is necessary to live and don’t kill them if you have any option.”

Tony glanced to Karl, who simply said, “Live is extra.”

With no other objections, Trixie and Tony shook hands on their deal. The map he offered had a great many details on it, but he had not placed it too close to Trixie so she could not just take advantage of him by reading the pertinent details in small text on the scroll.

The deal made, Trixie turned around to yell towards the open door. Kael was the only one who might be sleeping, so she didn’t feel bad about her volume.

“Everyone, gather up! It’s time to discuss the plan!”

Laying in bed was not confined solely to be Kael’s fate that day, as a Human Mage of great renown was too resting at that same time. In a hospital bed, Jaina Proudmoore lay as she let the last of the healing magic tend to her wounds.

The Bladefist had wracked such deep wounds on her that even the best healers in Stormwind had been unable to do all that much. They could stop her bleeding, but some of it would only be fixed with gradual rest. Whatever Kargath coated his blade with, it was sharp and deadly enough to make quick recovery difficult. In fact, new wounds seemed to crop up without seeming cause. This spread of wounds and bleeding was coming to a stop, and Jaina was just beginning to relax from the pain when her hospital room door was opened.

Thinking this another assassin sent by Illidan to eliminate her, Jaina tried to rise from her bed to face her attacker, but she instead collapsed down and howled in pain.

Fortunately for her, the one who entered was a man with no such intent.

The man was comprised of short auburn hair, sharp cheekbones that made his face appear as if it were a skull, and piercing blue eyes that all together chilled Jaina even though she realized he was no assassin. He wore a grey uniform with pants that flared out in a stylish fashion, and if she looked hard enough she could swear there was a miniscule green tinge to the outfit.

The man approached her bed, looked down to her from about a foot from its edge, and continued his piercing gaze.

“Jaina Proudmoore, I presume,” his voice had a rolling quality to his pronunciation, particularly on the r’s.

Jaina calmed down and settled into her bed as she realized that outside were the guards posted to guard her still. They had let this man come in, so he should not be a threat, “I am, though I am not quite sure who you are…”

He held up a hand to silence her, “Who I am is unimportant. I have come to discuss with you someone I hear you have history with, as well as encountered most recently before your unfortunate accident.”

“Assassin Orcs are mere accidents to you? I would hate to see what would be considered attempted murder,” Jaina joked, which surprisingly made the uptight man give a small smile.

He ignored her statement while continuing on with his agenda, “The man you have familiarity with is Kael’thas Sunstrider. He was here in the capital just freshly under unknown business, despite also being in Outland, and I have come to find him.”

Jaina thought to herself of how she had come across Kael just recently, or who she had thought to be him. It seems her intuition was correct, but that did not change how poorly the situation had gone, “So that was Kael…his female companion did not appear to be all that friendly to me. I called after him when he was leaving the keep, but only she heard,” Jaina frowned as she thought of how the woman may have mistakenly thought Jaina a romantic rival, given her actions, “The Elf ignored me.”

This explanation seemed to actually please the man visiting so late at night, his face only illuminated partially by the lights outside the room.

“Then you are familiar with her. Excellent. It is my understanding that you were formerly a friend of Sunstrider, before your people separated from his and your lover Prince Arthas betrayed his people, as well as Sunstrider’s. I assume you would like to smooth things over with your past friend and see why there appear to be two of him going around?”

Jaina paused at first before slowly nodding. If she could somehow reach out to Kael and stop him from helping Illidan, they could make the war with the Illidari far easier. Kargath was a brutal handful for her, though she knew it was because he had ambushed her rather than confronted her in a fair fight. That may have gone more evenly, or even in her favor.

“Excellent. You will pack your things and we will prepare immediately.”

The man began to turn around when Jaina spoke up quickly to stop him.

“Who are you though? What do you have to gain by finding him? I am not going to track Kael down only to have him harmed. Not without talking at least.”

This man was a Human like her, but he was cold beneath what affable bits he did show. Jaina had met many cold hearted fiends in her time, and she had a feeling this was one of them.

Despite her misgivings, he spoke truly to her then, “Oh you can be rest assured I have no ill intentions for Prince Sunstrider. I have interrogated that miscreant Elven woman in the stockades and it appears others do wish him grievous harm, and the sooner I locate him the sooner I may prevent such an occurrence. My benefactor who brought me to this place would like to see him live, though that is secondary to first locating and securing the other Elf with him.”

Jaina realized why he had been glad to hear about her own encounter with the other woman. She was important somehow? “That girl?”

“Yes. Think of me as an agent of Order. She ought not to be here, and others wish her to return to where she belongs. It is for this reason that I do not seek to harm this group, but must locate them nonetheless.”

Jaina realized that she would not be receiving personal information from this man, so she stopped trying to press him in that manner. She was in dire pain, but she was almost healed. She could go and be fine, though she would not be at full power for likely a day or so more, and even then she would have to take things easy.

It would mean finding Kael though to come with this suspicious man, as he apparently was able to pull enough strings to investigate the matter quite deeply. But who did he belong to? SI-7? They did not dress that way, and their agents would likely not reach out to her when they could just stalk Kael themselves…

“You certainly do not wear anything similar to what I am familiar with. Is that some organization or order’s dress, or…”

He seemingly was amused again, taking a look at his own outfit before looking back to her.

“Do you like it? A…personal acquaintance of mine sewed it at her boutique. I would recommend the venue to you, but I am afraid you likely will never have the opportunity to see it.”

So even his clothes were off limits. He responded to her without actually answering the question posed, showing that he was indeed keeping his secret for the time being.

“I will be waiting outside, Miss Proudmoore. Do not dally. We will meet up with my subordinates and move out come dawn.”

He walked out the doorway and disappeared into the dark corridor beyond, leaving Jaina alone in her room to think. To stew in her pain.

This could help curb a war’s entire scale if she was right. If the Blood Elves withdrew from Illidan’s forces the Night Elf Demon would be hopelessly outnumbered by the Horde and Alliance.

Jaina forced herself upright and swung her legs off the bed. If it meant saving lives, she would follow the sharp cheekboned man.

Hopefully Kael would be one of those saved.

Author's Note

Cookie to whoever gets every character reference in this chapter.

Starting next week or so I will also be launching a TvTropes page for this story, so keep tuned for that!

I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Level 25: The Hunt for Redemption

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. A million life problems came together to make me nearly take a break altogether, but fortunately I have rebounded after writing quite a lot for a not Fimfiction story (the first in a long time) taking place in the Gundam universe. Writing something different for once, something that was all just fun and nostalgia for me, has helped bring my spirit back and you can expect regular updates again.

I hope I didn't lose you all while I was rejuvenating my writing spirit, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

"Trixie, a princess must always do what is best for their people. Not what is best for them."

"But if you're in charge, shouldn't you be able to do what you want?"

"Yes, in theory, but what happens when you neglect your country in favor of your whims? The country crumbles beneath you, and the crown you once abused comes crashing down on you. So in the end it is in your own interest to serve the nation, so that in turn you may escape that fate."

"The ponies all hate and fear you though, Princess...even though you did so much for them, they did not appreciate you at all."

"Trixie, you are my student, but you are not to follow in those footsteps. Understood?"

"Yes, Princess."

"Good...I do not know what I would do if I lost you the same way my sister and mother once lost me."

Silvermoon City had fallen. Bodies lay in the street. Once proudly ornate buildings were reduced to rubble if fire had not consumed them entirely.

The streets fared worse, as the dead piled up to form a river of decay. Those not ripped to pieces before had been torn after by the ravaging, cannibalistic ghouls who had laid siege to the city. The lucky ones were those to have fallen quickly, while more abominable fates had fallen those unlucky enough to still live at the end of the conflict.

On his knees, Kael’thas Sunstrider was left weeping as the body of his father rest in his arms.

Sitting by herself on the ground floor of the inn, Trixie was trapped in thought. She had been the first to wake up and while she was no longer the only one to be up, she had kept to herself because of what she had seen during her sleep.

She was quite sure at this point that what she was seeing did not solely belong to her...while some dreams surely were from her own memory, others felt different. Like she was looking in on someone else's thoughts...only through their dreams. How could such a thing be possible? How could she see the dreams of others? Such a thing should be impossible...shouldn't it?

Trixie was also sure that the man with her was the true Kael’thas…his memories were too vivid to be anything but the Prince who had lost his people to the Scourge.

What she did not know, what she could not even begin to make sense of at that time, was why she was able to see the nightmares he had. Why she could feel his pain as if it was her own. Was it unique to Kael, or could she sense the dreams of others?

What she also had trouble reconciling with herself was how she did not want to let Kael go when she got out of bed. He was her partner and she cared for his well being, but she was unfamiliar with this whole “friendship” thing. Feeling his pain brought out an empathy in Trixie she did not know she had possessed.

Left on her own, Trixie felt like she was selfish…but also felt like she had learned to be better than that. Her own vague memories led her to this conclusion, though a selfish part of her ironically wanted to believe that some of it was just her base nature to be kind.

Even when she had tried to help Vanessa it had felt selfish to Trixie, for she was helping for reasons beyond merely wishing others well: seeing a young child harbor such pains brought out Trixie’s own hidden wounds, and it hit her deeply by driving through cracks Trixie did not know she possessed in her façade.

She hated children. Annoying little things that would do anything ranging from ruining a show to rounding up an Ursa and bringing it to her to face off against.

The Saldean orphans though…and Vanessa…they weren’t like that. They could become annoying brats, or monsters, but they weren’t there yet. Even Vanessa had acted out of fear and rage brought on by her tragic background rather than inborn malice. She would lash out against the world, but it was from paranoia and anger that had been forced upon someone too young to handle them.

Trixie had actually tried not to think about the younger girl given her fate…Lavitz had tried to save her, but she had died in a vain attempt to kill those fighting her.

Wherever Vanessa was, Trixie hoped that she was able to find peace—

A tap on the shoulder and Trixie spun from her seat at a table to punch the offending person straight in the face. Having been on edge due to her thoughts intermixed with the stress of being constantly chased by one threat or another, Trixie overreacted to the unfamiliar touch.

She noticed only a moment too late that she had just struck her new employee, Karl, across the face. The blonde man who looked similar to a Human Kael was caught completely off guard by the sudden strike and Trixie’s hit knocked him back across the entire room with enough force to kill a regular person.

“Woah, don’t scare me like that!” Trixie gasped as Karl crashed into the far wall. She was grateful he hadn’t damaged the structure or anything, lest she have to pay for the damages in the Inn.

Karl’s brother Tony approached the completely immobile man, moving to pick him up as Trixie realized what she just did.

“Oh Luna, did I kill him?”

Tony laughed as he finished pulling his brother to his feet, “He’ll be fine,” Karl did not stir from his unconscious state as Tony began to shake the man to stir him from the unfortunate slumber he was in, “Karl, vake up.

Trixie rushed over to assist, though by the time she reached them Karl was beginning to regain consciousness, “I’m so sorry. I can throw quite the punch…strength of a horse, really.”

Karl wiped some blood from his mouth as his first act upon awakening, then looked up to Trixie with an amused smirk, “Pony, maybe.”

Now that his brother could stand on his own, Tony let go of Karl and pointed him in the direction of the door leading outside of the inn, “Valk it off.”

Karl grabbed his crossbow without a word from where he had left it resting, then began to stalk towards the doorway as if he had purpose. Trixie sheepishly waved at the man as he stormed off, likely mad because he had been so easily caught off guard and defeated in a single strike. The fact that he had taken such a powerful blow without any anticipation of being hit amazed Trixie, as she doubted many others in their crew could take a full blow to the head and get up moments later like it didn’t happen.

Tony cleared his throat as he pulled out a bag’s contents to show Trixie, “Now, vhat he was going to tell you was that ve are ready. Here are ze devices you helped me build last night. I am impressed how quickly you took to them.”

Trixie nodded in approval of the gadgets they would be utilizing on the mission, “A stage performer also must be their own technician if they are to succeed,” realizing she had not been the most gracious about her compliment, Trixie bowed her head to the man who helped teach her more about engineering, “But thank you.”

They went over the details of the devices for a few minutes before a disturbance outside made them each fall quiet. It was the early hours of the morning, before everyone was awake, so the sound of a crowd approaching the inn and voices were quite suspicious.

“Bushy brows! Man wearing his girlfriend’s dress! Crack Elf and Crack Elfette! Come out, come out wherever you are Kael’thas and mistress!”

From upstairs where he had been sleeping, Kael’thas stumbled down and rubbed his eyes. Trixie had not made a move for the door, hoping to learn more about whoever was looking for them before actually confronting them, and neither had Tony. The only other ones awake at the time were Lavitz, who had been groggily sitting at the closest seat to the door, and the innkeeper, who was outside doing some yard work and gardening.

“Light be damned, what the hell is going on out there?” Kael cursed as he tried to drag himself across the room one step at a time, though his weakness born of poison was making itself apparent. Trixie mimicked Tony’s actions with Karl and helped Kael stand up, but neither made a move for the door. Just who was looking for them this time?

Outside the loud voice from before could be heard speaking to the innkeeper, and Trixie thought she could recognize the voice as being like that of the Defias member Helix…the real short one called a Goblin.

“We are looking for a man with long, blonde hair, ridiculous eyebrows, and the glowing eyes of an Elf,” the Goblin paused as if remembering something, “He’s also got a curved, bottom heavy gal pal. Tell us where they are and we’ll pay you!”

“Sorry, I don’t know anyone of that sort—”

The sound of a gun being drawn and prepared to fire cut the kind innkeeper off from his lie.

“We know they came this way, so start talking geezer!”

Trixie felt Kael push past her and start towards the door. Despite the incredible pain he was in, he was not going to hide and let them torture a man. Lavitz picked up on Kael’s action and quickly grabbed his spear for battle as well as Kael’s sword, which he had sharpened just recently for the Prince since the man was too sickly to attend to such matters himself.

“Kael…” Trixie whispered as he forced himself towards the door, took the sword from Lavitz, and made his way outside. Not about to let him go out alone, Trixie followed right after him, prompting Tony to come with them as well.

Outside was a team of six Goblins surrounding the Innkeeper, who was not seemingly used to having weapons drawn at him. The door of the inn being pushed open drew attention away from the man and to Kael instead, who forced a grin on his face when he truly wanted to grimace in pain.

“I assume you’re here for the bounty on my head?”

“Them, and us, little pretty boy. Why don’t you give up now and make this easy?”

The Goblins were not the only ones after Kael’s head it seemed. A mixed group of three Humans and two Night Elves stood at the edge of the forest clearing by the inn. They must have followed the same path as the Goblins and just arrived moments later as a separate force.

Kael sighed at the sight of them…and nearly fell over as yet another group of Human mercenaries came out of the woods to join in on the stand off. Whatever information they had gathered back at Stormwind, they likely all had just found out and rushed with haste to be here.

“And yet more join the party. Does anyone else want my hide? I normally am a one woman kind of man, so this will be my first time sharing.”

Fortunately for Kael, the third group was not able to say much as a figure leapt off the second floor of the inn through a window and cut them down swiftly, their attention having been focused on the enemies before them, not the possible enemies from above.

The perpetrator, Bronn, nodded to Trixie and Kael, obviously having woken up because of the ruckus. Realizing that the timing for the plan she laid last night required this particular member of their crew to leave immediately, Trixie gestured to him to leave in the direction the mercenaries he killed came from.

“Bronn, go now. You have your part of the invasion plan. Be quick!”

Bronn paused, seeing the danger the others were in, but quickly relented and retreated from the scene. He had his orders to follow, and was glad he had already grabbed the bag he had been told to bring with him before he made his jump. The most important thing inside it was not an item, but rather something alive: Nana.

Seeing Bronn retreat actually amused the Goblins, who cared little about their competition being viciously torn apart, though one with a good eye could see that they all were still breathing, “Oh, one less for us to kill. No matter! Fifty thousand gold pieces in total for you and the girl,” the leader of the Goblins leveled his gun at Kael, who stood about fifteen feet away, “With a bonus based on how many of your co-conspirators we round up. We’ve got a whole crew in the trees and area around here, so don’t try anything funny!”

Kael narrowed his eyes and steeled himself for the new pain he was about to feel. All he could hope to do was stall until an opening showed itself, as he was too weak at the moment to cast magic and Lavitz could not possibly stop every ranged attack or occupy the attention of every enemy, “Do you know the man you are working on the behalf of?”

The Goblin shrugged as his men snickered beside him and from the bushes and trees around the area, “Yeah, Kael’thas Sunstrider, the lord you decided to impersonate. I don’t know if you’re some Faceless One or what, but the real Kael wants you dealt with. And your little girlfriend whose been making a name for herself. I wonder what he’d pay to bring her back alive…”

The feeling of weakness in Kael began to die down as he felt a fire in his chest. A burning of both body and emotion washed over him as he fought then not to stand, but to not show the anger rising through him.

“That man is not Kael’thas Sunstrider.”

A man who killed his own people on a whim, a man who cared for his own selfish ambitions and needs over those of the people…that was not someone Kael could consider the lord of the Blood Elves.

He had only come this far out of a desire to protect Trixie, but the dreams he had woken from had instilled in him a sense of unalienable pain, of loss. He had been selfish in his own way since he first woke up on Sunstrider Isle, but he had been selfless even then by devoting himself to protecting someone he had come to love.

The idea that someone with his face would commit atrocities against his people, would drive their dying race even closer to the brink, was it for Kael. The other man had caused that Hunter to murder the Defias Brotherhood members. That man who called himself Prince of the Blood Elves had caused the deaths of all those people at Westfall, all to try and wipe out two amnesiac Elves.

Kael no longer felt the pain of the poison. It remained, but was insignificant against the other pain he felt.

Kael lifted his blade and pointed it at each of the mercenary groups, who seemed anxious about attacking when the other could swoop in and steal the kill, “If you disbelieve I am who I claim to be, then so be it. But I hereby denounce that man as the Lord of the Blood Elves! Every step of the way I have seen what his agents would do, and I am sickened by his barbaric ways!”

Beside him, Trixie felt herself grow a little faint. As Kael stood strong, she felt herself begin to feel fatigued. Curious about this, Trixie looked between them and could see a faint outline of mana streaming from herself to Kael. No similar mana trail was between the others present, and Trixie found herself confused by the faint sight of the magic leaving her.

Kael was not actively stealing her magic…so what was this?

His fury empowering him, Kael channeled the fiery aura growing within him to his sword, the blade becoming overwhelmed with flame as Kael took a bold step forward, “I have come too far to be stopped. You may surrender now and join my ranks, for which I will reward you, or you may perish like every other fool who has crossed my path! The last bounty hunter was lucky to escape with her life as she wallows away in prison, so do not test me!”

One of the Humans snorted as they drew their own blade, “Why impersonate someone you hate so much?”

Speaking not from rational thought but from sheer passion, Kael both spoke and learned as he lashed out verbally.

“That man, the insane wretch, will bring my kind to ruin! I could not save our people from the Scourge, I could not stop Arthas, but I can stop a man who carries my face and whose actions will ruin everything that was sacrificed for with the blood of many!”

Lavitz offered a hand to steady Trixie as she suddenly grew weak in the knees. Whatever had awakened in Kael, it needed to be fed, and Trixie was the power source.

Still unaware, Kael closed his eyes as memories he had seen in his dreams flashed before him. He could no longer forget who he was, and he was not about to let things end here.

“Yes, I remember now…Arthas slew my father Anasterion, he defeated that foolish and incompetent Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner, he nearly slaughtered all of my kind!” Kael snarled as he prepared himself for a mad dash at the nearby Goblins, “If you think I am going to sit back and let this new monster destroy so many more, you are wrong!”

Trixie fell to one knee despite Lavitz’s help and fumbled with one arm as she tried to grab Kael. She could feel immense power radiating from him, but the stronger he felt the weaker Trixie did.

“Kael, you—”

The Goblin leader snickered as he prepared his rifle to fire at Kael along with his many lackeys.

“I applaud your little speech, but we’ll be taking the fraudulent Prince. A few holes may need to be added to the merchandise though—”

Before he could fire the Goblin’s arm was pinned to the frame of the inn, a metal rod having gone through it. Still standing many feet away from the Inn was the Goblin leader, who gaped as he looked at his torn off arm.

Before he could verbalize his complaint Lavitz had closed the distance between them and hacked off his other arm with a directed stab at the skinny limb. This done, Lavitz spun in place and swept his spear around at the group of Goblins. He knocked them off their small feet by connecting his weapon with their faces, and after repeating the motion a few times the crowd had all fallen.

Unfortunately, they were not the only Goblins present, and from twenty different positions in the forest a hail of gunfire and arrows came flying down on the man. He brought his arms in front of him to guard himself, and his enchanted armor gave him the strength to weather their assault, though he could make no further movement as he tried to brace himself.

The Humans and Night Elves had looked to seize this opportunity of defeated Goblins to rush at Kael and take him down, but a sweep of Kael’s sword parried all three Humans and knocked them off their feet. He was feeling stronger, but his condition left him unable to follow up his attack, for his movement was still crippled.

The Night Elves took aim once their Human allies were knocked down, each Elf holding a wooden bow…or at least were, as their hands frosted over and ice from the ground forced its way up their bodies to entangle them.

Kael glanced aside at a panting Trixie, who had used what little power she had at her beck and call to cast that spell, “I don’t intend to share you with them. I’m a one man kind of woman, though minions are fine.”

Her call back to what he said before made Kael smirk, but he quickly noticed how poorly she was faring and knelt down to check on her. He did not understand the situation, having not seen the magic link, but the fact Trixie was in pain for some reason worried him.

The Goblins opening fire on the Human who had so easily tore down their allies stopped their attack when one of them fell out of a tree with a scream. He landed on his head, knocking him out, with a metal bolt sticking out of his shoulder.

“Who dares—” one Goblin called out, only to next be seen blasted from out of a bush by another bolt.

Having been hiding by the doorway the whole time, Tony took this moment to smirk, “I apologize, mercenaries. I forgot to mention that my brother vas off on his own. If you give up now, I promise I von’t hurt you.”

The Goblins began to look not at Lavitz and the others, but at the woods around them. In the dawn it was slightly difficult to see, but they eventually caught sight of the former SI-7 agent dashing into cover.

Lavitz began to move to help, but Tony called out to him in an amused tone, “Don’t vorry, Karl can handle this.”

Two more Goblin screams echoed in the forest as a tree bound Goblin was blasted with the power of a crossbow out of his perch and onto another Goblin below. Not content with just this, Karl shot another bolt at them to pin them to the ground by having it go through them both on an angle into the ground.

He then dove into cover as the remaining Goblins took fire at him again, furious that a single man was defeating them.

It took a few minutes of methodical attack, but there was no further action required by Trixie, Kael, or Lavitz other than to tie up those already wounded as Karl brutally took out the other mercenaries. The Humans had gotten up, only to find themselves looking at Lavitz’s shining spear, and promptly surrendered, leaving just the assorted Goblins Karl was taking down.

“I am glad we hired him,” Trixie whispered to Kael, having regained some of her strength as Kael’s anger faded and his sickness began to re-emerge. He wordlessly agreed as he took a seat on the ground, suddenly winded by his previous exertion.

Once all the Goblins were tied up and otherwise handled, Karl kicked the leader across the face and began to crush him beneath a boot, prompting the now armless Goblin to cry, “You said you wouldn’t hurt us!”

“I said I vould not hurt you,” Tony shrugged, “Karl has different plans. You interrupted him while he was hunting, and you attacked us.”

Trixie knew she had hired brute force, but she was not going to let this brutality continue, “Enough. We’re not murderers, remember.”

Karl grumbled something about that’s why they were all still alive, but left it at that.

Later that day they would be invading a fortress: this would end up being their warm up.

“These tracks indicate three separate groups of individuals, as well as a single man trailing behind them. It stands to reason that we are not the only ones looking for the Elves, so we must make haste.”

The man who had asked Jaina Proudmoore to join him in finding Kael’thas was irritated by how by delaying until morning he had allowed other groups to get ahead of him. Jaina had needed the rest given her mauling by Kargath, so it could not be helped, but the inefficiency of their travel was not something he would come to enjoy.

He finished observing the tracks made by a group of Goblins, a group of Humans and Night Elves, and a group filled entirely with Humans. Having tasked one of his subordinates with impersonating a Night Elf at some kind of drinking festival, given her purple complexion, he had learned much about their kind through research, and he knew quite well what a Human was like given his own species. The Goblins were some of the first beings he encountered in this land, and he was not all too fond of their excessive greed and propensity for unnecessary explosive. Fortunately, the latter made them easy to track given the smell of various explosive ingredients they left behind them wherever they went.

“Agent Two, you will—”

The man paused as he heard rustling about thirty feet to the left of him in the forest. He turned to see a crew of ragtag Humans gathering together, and they did not take long to notice him as well.

“Who are you, old man?”

He smirked, feeling confident even though he was no stronger than an average man of his age and size. Rabble, and nothing more stood before him.

“I once was an old man, but I can see how a backwards society such as this would see my younger age of about thirty five as old.”

He raised a hand and dismissively waved it at the Humans, who had drawn their weapons at the sight of his gold purse.

“Agent Two, deal with them.”

From behind him his purple skinned ally stepped forward. The movement made her even darker purple hair tied into two long, cascading pigtails wave in the every brightening air, but as the Humans showed confusion about some woman stepping out to face them alone she took a moment to glance back at her leader and complain.

“Is it that hard to just call me by my name?” she noticed that he was already back to following the trail they were to follow, and knowing him he would not like her to delay them. So she sighed and prepared her voice for a melody, her spoken words coming out smoothly as she prepared herself to sing, “Makes me miss Adagio, even if I have to share her with that mark in Silvermoon.”

“Your little master is abandoning you. Now things don’t have to end poorly, lady, you—”

The woman cut him off with a curt voice, now feeling ready to sing after having done some vocal warm ups all to the confusion of her enemies, “That bastard may be many things, but he is by no means abandoning me. And if you think he’s an old geezer, you’ll be surprised to hear I’m over a thousand now.”

The Humans shrugged, not all that surprised, though they rose their weapons as they noticed her walking towards them, “Not that old for a Night Elf.”

“I’m a Siren, but okay, just how many Elves are there? There’s the Elves who get High or whatever, the emo ones who are into Blood, and now there are Luna worshippers?” the Siren known as Aria groaned as she tried to wrap her head around all these foreign names she was not used to yet.

“Elune,” one of the Humans replied, but he felt himself beginning to have his energy sapped as Aria drew nearer. Trails of mana were leaving the Humans and rushing towards Aria, who was just barely exerting herself with occasional vocalizations followed by her harsh complaints.

“Same thing. Fucking moon goddess,” she got close enough to grab one of her opponents by the face, her power having completely paralyzed them at this proximity. Without even truly singing she had enthralled this crowd, “Why can’t all you Humans be as smart as my boss or that Stark idiot from Earth?”

Lifting the man up by his neck, Aria began to squeeze as she drained every last ounce of energy she could from him. He did not react at all, having become a zombie in a fashion as her powerful magic forced him under her control.

Done with him, Aria tossed him at the others, irritated further by how little they were able to feed her, “Morons, making me fucking miss Sonata. Even that blue bimbo would know not to stand still and let someone feed off you until you die.”

She found her boss quickly enough given that he had stopped to inspect something of note. Not sure what the cloth he was holding meant, but sensing magic off of it, Aria decided to question it as she took her place beside him and stuffed her hands in her pockets.

“Yo, you find anything? I’m done.”

The auburn haired man stood up and handed the small piece of cloth to her, “This torn cloth belongs to the Illidari in the region known as Outlands, formerly Draenor,” once Aria gave it a passing glance and promptly showed that she did not care at all, he took it back and continued to study it, “I do not see instances of Fel magic, so the chance that they are traveling en masse is unlikely.”

“They aren’t known for subtlety either.”

The two turned around to find Jaina now with them again. Aria felt irritated that this girl was slowing them down

“Oh, where did you go when I was off killing a horde of your kind who wanted us dead?”

Aria hadn’t counted, but it had been a group of about twenty in total. All nicely grouped together for her to absorb energy from like a buffet…or rather a salad bar given how filling it was.

“The Horde wants the entirety of my kind dead,” Jaina joked, deliberately misinterpreting what Aria meant, “Except for maybe Thrall and Vol’jin,

Before Aria could physically assault Jaina for lagging behind them their leader spoke up, “Where I come from, Humans rule and oppress their fellow species because they are the ones who have seized power,” he frowned and turned away from the other two as he looked on at the direction their objective would have gone, “It may be difficult for me to aid the Princess and her partner if racial tensions dictate this world’s politics like those of my own.”

Jaina stepped forward to touch his shoulder, shocked by the mention of royalty, “Did you say Princess?”

He turned back to face her calmly, “An honorary term, I assure you. She does not possess the blood of royalty, only the favor.”

“For a cold man, you certainly are undergoing a dangerous task on behalf of others. Do you even know the man we are looking for? He can slay demons and some of the land’s strongest warriors as if it were nothing. I should know, I studied with him. So why are you going to chase someone so dangerous if this is not your own quest?”

“I have served the princess’s family for years now, and undergo this task, under the promise that I will one day return to my own place,” he paused and contemplated how much he should tell her before he decided that some information would be needed to have her not distrust him and act to sabotage him later, “Worlds beyond this are undergoing strange phenomena. Displaced beings, such as myself, are not as uncommon as they once were.”

He brushed her hand away and continued on their path, displeased that they had wasted so much time already, even if it came with the knowledge that one of the Illidari was participating in this hunt as well. Once his pace was set he spoke sharply as the other two fell into line behind him.

“Remember though, I owe you no explanation for my actions. I only grant you this information as a method of information exchange. I expect your expertise with the land and with the people will be useful.”

At the Scarlet Monastery a hooded woman found someone unfamiliar crawling towards the altar. The fortress had multiple areas of prayer, but the main one was where the hooded woman was assigned to do her work as a healer of the temple.

The crawling person was a teenager with raven hair and red clothing. She had likely rode a horse or similar animal to reach the Monastery, but the members inside let the obviously wounded child crawl all the way to the deepest section of the Monastery. She was bleeding from where her skin had chafed, and she seemed to be in pain beyond what damage was done to her legs.

Not about to ignore her pain like the others, the hooded woman approached her and sat next to the young girl.

“You are new to our congregation.”

The child bowed their head even as they lay wounded on the floor, bringing their nose into contact with the ground, “I have come for healing and repentance, my lady.”

The Scarlet Crusade member gave a sad laugh before raising a hand and casting healing magic on the young girl, “You need not be so formal with a wretch such as myself.”

One healing spell should have fixed her wounds, but the child appeared barely any better off. Surprised, the Scarlet Crusader realized that perhaps some of the red on the girl’s clothes was dyed from blood rather than more normal dyes. She was nearly mortally wounded, and it was a miracle that she had managed to come this far in her condition. This child had a strong will to live, one that reminded the Crusader of someone they knew, causing her to have an instant connection with the child.

Reaching into her own bag, the woman removed bread she kept with her for the less fortunate and gave it to the child, who appeared completely starved on top of her wounds.

“Here, you appear malnourished.”

Now healed, though still in pain, the teenager sat up and took the bread. She began to wolf it down at a rapid pace, displaying a seeming fondness for it that made the Scarlet Crusader smile…up until the child nearly choked from a bite too large.

“Slow down or you will choke,” the older woman scolded softly.

The teenager averted their gaze, seemingly averse to being reprimanded, “I’m sorry…”

Realizing that the girl must not be used to parental reprimands, the hooded woman placed a hand gently on the top of her head and gave a soft pat, “Don’t apologize. You remind me in some ways of my daughter.”

Having already finished off the bread, the girl continued to look away from the person treating her so kindly, unlike all the other Crusaders, “I killed my own mother…” she sniffed as tears began to well up in her eyes, “I thought I was going to die. I thought I had to do it…”

Not knowing their story but suddenly shocked by the girl’s admission, the Crusader took a moment to think. She closed her eyes and sighed as she thought back to why she was at this place herself.

“You came to a good place if you want to find redemption. I too am here for crimes against my family, devoting my life to serving others to make up for the wrongs I have committed.”

The teenager looked up to see that the Crusader had turned away, their hood obscuring their face as they reminisced silently. After a moment, the woman spoke up again, though it was with pain in her voice.

“I punished my daughter for the actions of her father. I won’t burden you with the details, but having a daughter at an age younger than you drove me to foolishness,” she paused before sighing, “A child should not have to bear the crimes of their forefathers. Nor should a mother blame them for things outside of their own control, such as their father.”

The teenager moved still with pain, and the Crusader could see that the girl’s leg was still partially damaged. Whatever had torn into it had done its job terrifically, so she began to heal the girl again.

As she did so, the younger girl decided to take the time to speak.

“Fortunately for any possible offspring, I have no intentions of ever reproducing. People as damaged as I am do not have the capability of raising others without inflicting our wounds onto them,” she sighed as the feeling of eternal loneliness sprung upon her, “I don’t have any family left…and I never will.”

She paused and reflected on her own words, quickly deciding that she had misspoken.

Her family was dead…her adoptive family was dead…everyone she knew was dead…but there was someone who had shown care for her.

“Well…there is someone who cares about me still,” she blushed as she thought about the woman who had shown her kindness, who had in fact inspired her to come here, “I could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time…but she…”

“You should not take them for granted then,” the older woman smiled down at the other, glad that at least she had one glimmer of hope, “I wish there was someone for me back when I lost everything…and the only one I had, who loved me unconditionally, I hurt.”

She sighed as she finished her healing. If only there was healing magic for a broken heart and mind.

“There, your leg should be healed now,” given that she had an obligation as a Scarlet Crusader to take some sort of toll for the services rendered, “Now, if you are to stay with us, we will expect you to contribute in some way. Do you have any trades or

“I am skilled at cooking…can I work in your kitchens?”

“Of course. We can always use more hands in our kitchens.”

Cooking was a form of chemistry…just like poisons were. A nice coincidence, since cooking also was a great way of introducing someone to poisons.

Vanessa almost felt bad for manipulating the woman, but then again the Scarlet Crusade were murdering zealots, even if this one in particular was kind-hearted.

Vanessa had come here to save her soul, as she led the Scarlet Crusade to believe, but she would do it by repaying a debt she owed someone already. Someone she had learned was headed to this specific location.

‘Miss Trixie…please be safe.’

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Please leave your thoughts in the comments below, as the more I hear from you all the faster I'll be able to update for you!

Level 26: A Messa Things

A/N: Special thanks to GamerGoddessDin, Amethyst Blade, refferee, nwithan12, EquestrianNecromancer, Freya, SilentMech, nioniosbbbb, Mister E, and michaelb958 for your comments last time! Without you I wouldn't have been able to get this done so quickly, as my dog just passed away suddenly the other day years before his breed is supposed to, so talking with you all with your commentary has helped raise my spirits and as such I am very grateful.

I'd rather not talk about my dog though, so I would rather have nice and fun conversations with you all about the story so I can keep my mind off what happened.

I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

“What’s a kid like you doing here?”

Vanessa stopped her cooking preparations to turn and see a member of the Scarlet Crusade approaching her. He was taller than the soldiers, though only of average size otherwise, with his musculature hidden beneath his red and white armored uniform. His face held an extreme smugness to it, and his blonde hair glistened in the torchlight of the room as he stood in its doorway.

Given that he was not a high ranking officer or someone she knew yet, Vanessa turned back to her work without paying him much more mind, “To repay my debt to the Scarlet Crusade, I am providing my meager cooking skills to feed the troops.”

His laugh nearly caused her to mishandle the knife in her hands. Instead of nearly cutting her as a normal chef might, her mishandling would have ended with it in his throat, and it was a strong urge to curb as he finished laughing at her.

“Oh yeah, I remember you. You must have gotten healed by one of our Priests if you’re not dragging yourself along the floor anymore.”

Vanessa forced herself to continue focusing on her work and tried to ignore him even as the man walked inside and approached her to look at what she was doing.

“Make sure to make something good. I don’t know when he’s showing up, but my friend Dirge should be around soon with a caravan of supplies for the Crusade.”

That was something Vanessa had already heard about, and given the information the surviving members of the Defias Brotherhood gave her it was also most likely going to coincide with Trixie’s arrival. As such, Vanessa already had plans to make something “good” for then.

Given that Vanessa was still ignoring him, the man placed a hand forcefully on her shoulder to try and get her attention.

“Hey, you hear me? Prepare something that won’t upset his stomach like this other garbage you’re making would—”

Vanessa dropped her knife as she spun around to punch the taller man in the face. He stumbled back at first, caught off guard by the sudden attack from a mere cook and also by how much of a punch someone so young could muster.

The Scarlet Crusader took a swing at Vanessa in his anger, “Why you little brat!”

His punch missed as Vanessa ducked underneath him, allowing her to then shift his weight so he carried over her and landed on his back. She thought the issue settled, and was not about to blow her cover by actually killing him, but he had other plans.

The man jumped back to his feet in a quick recovery, and as Vanessa turned to parry the punch she expected from him she instead had a strong kick break through her block and connect with her head.

This hit took her off her feet and suddenly she was the one on her back, but the fight would go no further as a harsh voice echoed in the room.

“Jerid, cease this pathetic display at once.”

Vanessa wiped some blood from her face as she rose up from the ground to see that in the short time they had been fighting another man had entered. Realizing instantly that this was the Grand Crusader of the Scarlet forces, Vanessa snapped a salute to him just as her foe did.

“Yes sir! I apologize, sir!” the Scarlet Crusader named Jerid said to his superior officer. He had been already forgotten by Dathrohan though, who had turned his attention to Vanessa with great interest.

“You have the makings for a good Crusade member. I hope you will stay with us after you have paid us back for our services.”

Having no intentions to stay with an organization doomed for failure, and having her own plans for the future, Vanessa would normally decline such an offer with a laugh…but she was pretending to be some meek little girl, so this was not the time to upset the man who could on a whim have her executed.

“Thank you, sir,” she lied, hoping that her agents were correct and that Trixie would be arriving sooner than later. If forced to be with these bigoted religious zealots much longer, someone would die…and now that she had a target for her frustrations it was difficult to not just kill the regular crusader soldier who now held a special place of hatred in her heart for having managed to catch her off guard in his rage and actually get the better of her for a moment.

Either Trixie showed up soon, or Jerid was eating his friend’s portions of the poisoned food.

Trixie tapped the map provided by Karl and Tony.

“This flight path will lead us through territory we are not suited to cross on foot. It will land us in Alliance territory, which is fine if Kael and I disguise ourselves, but we will need to traverse some land from there while keeping quiet.”

It was half a continent away to where they were going, but that was fine if they flew. That way they would not have to cross steep mountain cliffs and volcanoes.

Trixie moved her finger to show the upper right of her own map where Silvermoon City lay, “Bronn, you will leave ahead of us, with a message and Nana, and go to Silvermoon. Then you will travel with haste to this location,” she moved her finger down to where the Scarlet Monastery was on her own map.

With no objection from her mercenary, Trixie continued her planning and began looking over the various documents provided by Karl as to the Scarlet Crusade’s movements and details.

“This is their supply route from their Eastern bases in the Plaguelands, correct?”

“Yes, that is where the majority of their army is stationed,” Tony responded as Trixie pondered over the area in-between Silvermoon and the monastery to its southwest.

Tapping an area nearby the monastery where a supply route was, Trixie smiled at everyone gathered around her planning table, “Lavitz, Kael, and I will wait here after we have one of you scout an incoming caravan or cart to the base,” she smiled even more as she continued to develop her plan, “Kael will be covered up, but wearing his armor. Lavitz and I will convince the caravan to bring us to the monastery, either through words or through force.”

Going back to the Scarlet Monastery’s map, Trixie pointed to the northern area where there appeared to be a place of worship. This would no doubt have the most priests, and given her plot for getting inside that was precisely where she would end up and where she wanted to end up.

“Once inside they will likely bring us here. We will use this point to establish our operating base, and use that to launch our invasion.”

After having survived a bumpy flight which included hugging Kael tightly so his poisoned body would not just fall from the flying mount with a beak Trixie had forgotten to ask the name of, Trixie was glad to be on the ground again. After some minor travel with her forces she had come to the location she ought to wait for a supply caravan, and found herself board as she waited for it to do so.

If she was to sell her disguise, she needed to think out all the possible details. She’d been working on them during the flight, some of them made easier by having a half-conscious member of her cover story so close to her and thus giving rise to ideas, which left her at her current point of contemplation.

“Hmmm…one is too few, two would mean rivalry, three would lead to the older, middle, younger dynamic, four…”

Trixie turned to look down at Kael as the pain of his poison wracked him. He was barely awake, and the only other person in the immediate vicinity was Lavitz, who stood guard about a dozen feet away while Trixie took to looking after Kael. It was part of the disguise after all, and she’d do it anyways after how much he did for her.

“Four would be good. At least. I’ll have a lot of time on my hands these next few thousand years…”

Kael cracked his eyes open weakly and tried glancing at Trixie before hastily shutting them in pain.

“Four what?”

Trixie patted him on the forehead and laughed at his inquiry in an embarrassed fashion. She didn’t exactly want to tell him where her mind had been moments ago.

“Oh, nothing. Just planning out all possible details for our cover story.”

Her attempt to brush him off made Kael all the more curious, even if he was in extreme pain, “What part?”

Now blushing, Trixie lowered her hand so that it covered his eyes, “Don’t worry about it. You just rest.”

So what if she was imagining hypothetical children for their cover story? As in, hypothetical children they were planning to have. After all, it was quite easy to pretend to be the poor man’s loving wife tending to him in his moment of weakness to garner sympathy from a passing group of Scarlet Crusade members. Throw in a fake pregnancy, and they would be playing to her tune soon enough.

Sure, Trixie did not really know the details of pregnancy, but how hard could it be to pretend to be at the stage when she wouldn’t even be showing yet? It’s not like they’d use an X-ray on her or something to find out.

The pathway was in a forested part of what was labeled on Reuenthal’s map as “The Plaguelands”, and was in the grand scheme of things only a stone’s throw from the location Trixie was tasked with taking.

“So, four, huh?”

Trixie shot a glare over to Lavitz, sensing that the soldier was playfully mocking her.

“Oh be quiet. It’s just a cover.”

Lavitz shrugged from his station, keeping his voice low so as to not rouse the nearly unconscious Kael from his unaware state.

“Quite the odd detail to focus on in a backstory, since you’re thinking ahead rather than backwards.”

Trixie crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from the man, flustered by his questioning of her methods, “Well what am I to say when I pretend to be pregnant and I am asked how many children I plan to have? I do not want to be caught off guard.”

“Still, there’s a million ways you could have planned this, and you go the route that has you married to our Prince,” Lavitz laughed at the complete denial he was being faced with. Was she even aware of her own feelings, or was it his job now to make her see them?

When Trixie just mumbled something and blushed, Lavitz moved over to her to give her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

“I’m not judging. Though I may have to borrow your first or second born for a day to pass off as my own to my mother, so she stops bugging me about getting a wife.”

Trixie looked at him with narrowed eyes, “I’ll charge you by the hour.”

“After all I do for you, you’d rent your child to me like a common item? I’m not sure who should be insulted, the poor child or myself.”

Trixie scoffed as she retorted her reason for charging for the time involved, “A Prince’s time is valuable.”

Of course Trixie did not mean, or at least consciously mean, what it sounded like, but Lavitz had a hard time keeping a hearty laugh from bursting out as she watched with confusion caused by his sudden amusement.

To explain it so she could understand, Lavitz pointed a thumb over at Kael, “Oh, so you do intend to marry him. And here I thought you didn’t want to admit you like him.”

Trixie instantly realized her slip-up and mistake, and she shook her head fervently, “I could marry any number of Princes, and a time traveling Gnome-thing called me a Queen, so my children will be Princes and Princesses if I choose to have any at all. I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, settling for anything less than a Prince would be to settle for less than I am worth.”

“…okay then, so just to be clear you intend to marry a Prince, who may or may not be the one right next to you?”

Trixie spoke back with some pride still in her voice, “I am not some gold digger, so I won’t use Kael like that. Besides marrying him won’t change much of anything, we’re already partners in just about every way. We even sleep in the same bed like some married people do…or so I hear.”

Lavitz had been surprised to learn their sleeping habits, but he was not exactly opposed to it. If proximity served as a way of making them romantically closer, he was all for letting the Elves sleep in the same bed. It also made guarding and keeping tack of them easier. Still, it seemed to imply something he was sure it did not, since he had not heard any noises from them when they slept, “I was going to ask about that. Any particular reason you two do that?”

“At first it was to save money, but now we’re just…in a habit,” Trixie shrugged as she ran a hand unconsciously through Kael’s hair, “Besides, I don’t mind at all.”

Having learned just how…clueless Trixie was in some regards given his time with her, Lavitz coughed as he thought about how to put what was on his mind nicely. He took a few steps away from Trixie to take his original spot where he had the best vantage point.

“I’m sure you don’t, but perhaps he does…”

Trixie looked up at him with some confusion, not understanding why sleeping half naked on top of Kael would pose a problem for the man, “Why would he possibly mind? Am I repulsive?”

“Hardly, but I would reckon it’s difficult for him to be so close to a beautiful woman every night.”

“I still don’t get it.”

Lavitz was saved from having to explain the details of why it might be awkward by the sight of their approaching target.

Their waiting paid off in the end, and right about the time Trixie managed to finish the persona she would play the part of the sight of a horse pulled cart came into view. The vehicle was large enough to probably hold about two people in the front and six in the back where supplies probably were kept, and it appeared to just have one man directing the horses while some laughter and voices could be heard out the back.

“Okay Lavitz, are you ready?”

He moved to be closer to Trixie and adopted a position on the ground as if he was wounded, “Yes. Fortunately my armor appears slightly scruffed up because of that last fight, which will help this ruse.”

The cart approached without pause, not seeming to slow as it drew closer to Trixie’s spot beside the road. Worried that it might just pass them by, Trixie got up and began flagging it down.

“Sir! Sir!”

The man directing the cart, a black haired man in the Scarlet Crusade’s colors, pulled on his reigns to slow down to a halt right by her. Having succeeded already at this point, Trixie smiled as she made sure her communication device was set.

“What is it?” the Crusader called out to Trixie in a gruff voice, not seeming to be all that amenable to stopping for strangers…but the fact that he had told Trixie that he was not completely callous.

Moving back a bit to motion to Kael pitifully, Trixie put on her saddest face as she spoke to the man, “My husband and I were attacked by a group of lawless fiends a short while ago and he was poisoned, on top of the wounds we have received.”

Once the cart was completely halted a trio of soldiers leapt out of its back and took up defensive positions around it. They were quite trained, Trixie noted, but she had faith that Lavitz could handle them…and faith that Karl, who was situated in another section of the woods with his crossbow, could stop anyone from running.

Now concerned with the possibility of an attack from a large force, the Crusader Trixie was speaking to looked around and began to scan the woods for any threats, “Where are these bandits?”

Trixie kept a smirk off her face as she successfully lowered his guard; he was expecting an attack from outside now, while discounting her and her companions as a threat.

Trixie pointed in the direction of the monastery, “They fled because of our bodyguard fortunately, but could come back with more horrible fiends,” Trixie knelt down next to Kael and brushed a hand over his warm face, “Please help us, my poor husband is not well.”

The understanding Crusader nodded to her, buying the story she was spinning completely, “I see. Well, we do not have much room between our soldiers and supplies, so you’ll have to walk alongside us.”

Trixie forced herself to blush as she cupped her stomach with the hand not touching Kael, “I really ought not to for too long. You see, I am with child.”

Who would turn down a poor helpless woman who had been attacked, and who was also pregnant? Utilizing the evolutionary imperatives of the mind, Trixie played on things she knew would garner her sympathy.

The man leapt from his seat and rushed to Trixie and Kael, now apparently worried for their well being beyond common decency, “Do you need any medical attention for you and the child? We can help you to the best of our ability.”

Trixie gave him a friendly smile as she thought about this would be a perfect way to get into the deepest part of the monastery where all the healers were, “I would like to be healed if possible, yes. Can you take me to a healer along with my husband?”

Unfortunately for Trixie, she had flagged down someone who negated her need to even go to the monastery.

“You are in luck. I do not focus primarily on it, but I have some skill in healing.”

Trixie blinked as her mind raced at that revelation. How could she still use this and come out ahead? He very well may just heal them and be on his way.

“You’re a priest?”

“Why yes, I am,” he smiled as he began to look Trixie over, noticing quickly that she was not yet showing but coming to different conclusion than the correct one as to why that was, “So, how far along are you in your pregnancy?”

“I don’t remember doing that…” Kael mumbled before gasping in pain, still suffering from the Huntard’s poison.

Trixie wrapped her arms around Kael and began to cradle him in a sickeningly sweet manner, “See how unwell he is? Speaking in his delirious state, the poor thing. They really got him with their poisons.”

“I’ll tend him first then with what I have available at the moment,” the Priest waved a hand and a flash of white-yellow light moved from his hand to Kael’s body. Instantly Kael began to ease in his pain, and so the Priest turned his attention back to Trixie, “When did you last bleed so I can tell what I am dealing with?”

Trixie had not expected that as a question, so she crafted the response on her feet, “Oh, when the bandits attacked us. They didn’t nick me too badly though, but—”

The Priest laughed at her misunderstanding, “No, I mean how many months into your pregnancy are you?”

What did bleeding have to do with pregnancy? Trixie wished she had read a book on it at some point. Or had a basic education to have learned how it even happened. She knew how males and females were different on a basic level, but everything beyond that was foreign to her.

Trixie blushed in embarrassment as she looked to the side, averting her eyes from the man to both sell her response as well as to avoid showing him her hesitation, “Oh…ummm, I don’t particularly know. To be honest I’m not even sure how it happened.”

“Well your husband must be a lucky man to have gotten a woman as beautiful as you in bed,” the Priest laughed, having noticed that Trixie was quite the superb specimen of her species. Fortunately he had his own lover, so he did not continue that train of thought in their conversation, “Is it your first child? You appear quite built to handle a pregnancy if it is.”

Realizing that he was likely referring to her huge hips, Trixie laughed as she started using some of her false identity’s information.

“I will take that as a compliment, and yes, it is. I’m still deciding on names. Right now I’m thinking Luna or Hela if it is a girl, and Loki or Sleep Near if it is a boy. Which do you think is the best?”

The man rose an eyebrow as he began to use his healing magic now on Trixie, “Those don’t really sound like Elven names I know. Now—”

He gasped as he realized he was not healing a woman and a very small being inside of her, but rather just a woman. He could feel the way his magic danced across people, and this was not the same sensation as healing a pregnant woman.

“Wait a minute, you’re not—”

Trixie bashed her head into his and knocked him back, prompting Lavitz to leap from the ground and strike one of the guards. He had nearly missed his cue because of how amused he had been at Trixie’s charade, but fortunately he had been able to curb his laughter so as to not ruin it.

The Crusader who had been trying to help Trixie and Kael found a whip wrapped around his neck in a flash, though Trixie did not wrap it so tight as to strangle him. As Lavitz finished mopping up the remaining guards with the help of Karl’s long ranged attacks, Trixie spoke to the man she had at her mercy.

“Sorry for misleading you. Now, we’re not here to hurt anyone, not really, but we’ve been ordered to take over your base and will crack as many skulls as needed to accomplish that. So you’re going to bring us in to your facility, and we’re going to do just that, okay?”

The man coughed from a slight lack of breath caused by his partially constricted throat, though he did not struggle given how precarious of a situation he was placed in, “You’ll never get away with it. My guards—”

Given that he was not fighting back, Trixie felt like she could accurately judge that he valued his life more than his cause, and so she tightened her whip’s hold on his throat as a bluff. She did not actually intend to kill anyone at all, but he didn’t know that she was completely opposed to killing, “You see, I think you’re the sort who cares about his life. You care about your life, right?”

He nodded slowly, soothing some of Trixie’s nerves. Part of this ploy relied on using one of these poor Crusaders as a ticket inside, and she didn’t want to actually have to start wounding them to do what she wanted, “Then you’ll report that a bandit attack took out your guards, but some outsiders assisted you and you came back to have everyone healed. You’ll pretend that we saved you and are in our debt, and bring us to where your healers are. You’ll tell them that the bandits are still nearby, and you will have your forces attack them.”

“Fine. I guess I don’t have a choice…not my fault you’re walking into your own funeral though.”

Trixie laughed at his comment. She had survived quite a lot so far with far worse odds than this. If everything went according to plan, she wouldn’t even break a sweat.

“I think we’ll be just fine.”

“Outside we will have the majority of our forces spread out and enact an illusion of an invading force. Make enough noise and racket to draw their forces out. If they react in small numbers, assault them swiftly and make them react in full force. Once they are reacting in large numbers, pull them back and continue to retreat along this path.”

Trixie used her hand to demonstrate what she meant on the map. There was sufficient area around the fortress called a monastery to draw out the small army stationed there.

“Do your best to maintain the illusion that you are a larger force than they believe. And cover up in extra clothing to make them doubt whether you are Undead or not. With the bulk of their forces drawn out we will have an easier time infiltrating them.”

“Our focus should be taking their officers and leaders hostage. Defeat them and keep them at our mercy until we get control, though first we will head here and close the gates. Once their forces are out, we will keep them there.”

Jerid had been assigned guard duty by the front gates of the monastery in seeming punishment for getting bruised by a child. His pride dampened by the encounter with the temperamental teenager and his wrath waiting to be called down upon something, he almost wished the Undead would attack them as he stood guard.

It would give him a chance to prove himself and redeem his honor, honor that currently was besmirched by rumors within the monastery that he had been completely defeated by the young girl in the kitchens. While a falsehood, the bruise on his face did little to stop the rumors, and the healers refused to remove it because of the reason he received it. Even the hooded woman who had taken him in after his family died due to the Undead had turned him away and refused to tend to his wound, irritating him further.

The arrival of his friend, a Priest from the Eastern Plaguelands, was something he was banking on improving his mood. Seeing the horse drawn cart arrive with his friend up front made him grin despite his sour mood, as it had been quite some time since he had gotten to see him. He waved to the man as the portcullis raised and allowed the cart inside, but the Priest continued to look forward and did not even turn to face him.

Thinking that his friend had just not noticed his wave, Jerid chased after the cart briefly, “Hey, Dirge! Wait up!”

Dirge did not in fact wait for him, and continued inside as Jerid stopped after a few steps. He was assigned to guard the front gate, and would hate to be disciplined for leaving his post.

“Huh, that’s strange. Wasn’t he paying attention when I called him?”

Dirge was an amiable sort, which was why they were friends ever since they joined the Scarlet Crusade and were trained together. Dirge had shown different aptitudes though and was a Priest now, while Jerid was a standard soldier.

That Dirge would just ignore him made Jerid think that his friend was feeling a bit off. Perhaps he was suffering from the same illness some of the guards at the base were becoming wracked with?

He couldn’t be faulted for ‘inspecting’ what came inside the base, and after a couple minutes of hesitation he decided to shirk his actual duties to try and catch up with his friend, “Something must be wrong, I’ll go see how he’s doing.”

As Jerid did so he noticed that an entire platoon of Scarlet Crusaders were rushing past him to the front gate. They likely had just received some kind of order to go out, but the sudden nature of it made Jerid’s curiosity rise. Had Dirge told them about some nearby threat?

It took some asking around, but it seemed that Dirge had taken some civilians to the back of the monastery to receive healing. They had helped him fight off bandits, which were about to be hunted down for daring to attack the Scarlet Crusade. An example would be made of them.

Jerid ran after his friend, catching sight of him at the top of the staircase leading upwards in the monastery’s courtyard that lay in front of the monastery’s cathedral where Dirge was no doubt heading to. Behind him was a man in silver armor and green cloth, a man in black clothing who was being followed by a similar looking man in casual clothing. In front of Dirge was a woman who was helping a man in red walk, and the man’s weak appearance made Jerid correctly assume these were the people who Dirge had encountered.

By the time he physically caught up with Dirge, the Priest had just entered the Cathedral and was beginning to explain the situation to those present there. As he spoke to the Priests there, Jerid could see that the woman visitor was saying something seemingly to herself, though he couldn’t hear her.

“Is everyone in position?” she waited a moment before whispering again, “Okay, on my mark, which will be someone hitting the floor and some yelling on my part.”

Jerid called out to his friend again and waved to him, adopting a bright smile as he received a chance to catch up with him.

“Dirge!”

The Priest turned around to see his friend, first smiling on instinct and then growing seemingly worried for reasons beyond Jerid’s comprehension.

“Oh, hey Jerid—”

Jerid was just passing by the woman when Dirge responded, and it was at that moment that Jerid found himself hurtling across the room from a powerful punch to the jaw. He collided with the left wall of the cathedral and collapsed down as Trixie then held a hand up with magic energy in her palm.

“Okay everyone, on the ground! We aren’t here to hurt you, but we will fight if we have to! Surrender peacefully and drop your weapons!”

She had started it with a physical hit that would draw attention instead of magic since while some yelling and a hit would draw some attention, it would not be nearly as bad as if she blew a hole in the wall or did something else drastic to draw attention. For now, she had Dirge right by her and at her mercy, while Lavitz and Karl each had gone about taking out the few guards posted there as they moved to react.

The various Priests in the room all were rounded up and brought to the back of the room, so as to be out of view of anyone looking inside. Trixie shut the door to the cathedral and smiled to herself as she looked over at all the hostages they now had. Surely some of them knew where the leaders of the base currently were, if they weren’t among those already captured. She also had one of the healers start tending to Kael so that he could be a more active participant than near-zombie.

As Trixie began to pace by a door in the back of the cathedral she did not pay much mind to, Lavitz smirked at the operation’s leader. Things had gone quite smoothly so far, “Not bad. Right now the others are separating the other forces garrisoned here, and with all the wild goose chases they will be on we only will have to face a fraction of what we otherwise would have.”

“Am I not brilliant?” Trixie boasted and let out a laugh befitting of a noblewoman. After letting this out she turned her attention to the captive audience she had gathered.

“Okay everyone, tell me where your leaders are so they can officially surrender this location to me and we can end this as smoothly as possible!”

The door behind her opened, and Trixie turned around to see Grand Crusader Dathrohan emerge.

“You would be referring to me.”

Before he passed out, Jerid got the chance to see the woman who struck him be sent flying in quite a similar manner to how she had hit him, though instead of hitting a wall Trixie struck a pillar before collapsing down.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed and will grace me with your comments below! I could still use them to make it through this tough week, and they really do help me keep releasing chapters for you all on a regular basis.

Level 27: Victim of Your Own Creation

A/N: Special thanks to Amethyst Blade, the other sans, and Freya for your comments last chapter...kind of a lean turnout, which in addition to a heavy workload made this difficult to get done, but here it is!

This chapter is basically a response to my own writing much earlier in the story, which I felt placed too little emphasis on the antagonists, but which I've tried to do better with (especially starting with V).

I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! This is a juicy chapter with a lot to discuss, so your thoughts would be very welcome!

"Lord Mograine!"

The amber haired Scarlet Commander turned to face one of his soldiers who had called his name. He had been busy attending to his duties as a Crusader, and had been nearly so encapsulated in his task at hand that he almost did not hear the woman calling out to him.

"What is it Lieutenant Lila?"

The woman was a regular Crusader under his command with blonde hair, one who was more of a veteran than the others he now was tasked with overseeing given their regular losses against the Undead. Of course this meant she was more skillful, and thus more valuable, but not near the level of Mograine himself or the other leaders such as Whitemane.

The woman saluted him before giving him the news she brought with all haste, "We're receiving reports that the Scarlet Monastery is under siege. Should we return to assist them?"

Mograine paused to think this over. He was reckless at heart, and sought any chance to bring himself glory, so what would be more glorious? Carrying out their offensive crusade or save his leader from whatever attack he was under?

Stomping on the fragile skull of a member of the Forsaken before him, Mograine made his decision.

"The Grand Crusader tasked us with eradicating these filth here," the man smiled to himself smugly, "But if they are assaulting our sanctuary, they will pay in their rotted blood."

Brushing his hair back behind his red headband, the Crusader smiled to himself at the sight before him. A former Human town that had been infested by Sylvanas's Undead lay in ruins, buildings destroyed or burning as their populace clamored for safety as their defenders were cut down by the zealous fervor of their opponents. No soul was to be left remaining in their reanimated shells, no matter how life-like they appeared to be. They were living a new existence free of the shackles of the Lich King's Scourge, living much as they had in life, until the xenophobic Crusade came to remove them for the actions of the Scourge and the Burning Crusade that had once controlled those mindless undead.

These Undead were conscious beings like any Human or Elf, but to their persecutors they would forever be mindless beasts that had nearly tore the world to the ground.

"Please...spare us..." a weak voice called as a hand tried to touch Mograine's ankle.

Mograine kicked the civilian Undead across the man's face and beheaded him with the powerful yet casual blow. This done, he forced his foot down through the dead once more man's chest. The magic reanimating the Undead was broken by the damage to their body, shattering the fragile bond to life the corpse once possessed.

"You are a blight upon this world. Every last one of you shall die for your crimes against humanity," Mograine responded once the man was dead. A soldier behind him approached Mograine and handed him a torch, which the Commander took with a sick delight. Lila watched and winced as she saw him prepare to use it on the building before him: a former Church of the Light, now run by the Forsaken despite how the Light hurt them.

"Sir, we must hurry if we are to return in time," Lila urged, knowing her commander would take delight in this and torture them longer than was necessary. This was a slaughter, not a fight among warriors, and it sat wrong in the stomach of some like Lila. Voicing such concerns would lead to their torture and eventual purging though, so the few who had such qualms would quiet their voices. Knowing how to pick her battles was how Lila had lived this long though despite constant warfare and battle, so she let her morals fall by the wayside when there was nothing she could do about them: she would instead opt for this kind of approach, subverting rather than defying.

A few others she knew had similar views, though their youth led them to be blinded in some regards about the righteousness of their cause. Lila had taken to looking after some of the younger soldiers in this way, with one pupil in particular she was growing fond of: Jerid Messa. A hotblooded man who many would expect to perish in his first combat outing with how much of a brute he could be, and whose jerk-jock behavior was unappealing, he had shown to the veteran potential in his training and also a willingness to learn and better himself.

Between Jerid and his close friend Kacricon, Lila felt like she could feel rest assured about their generation of Crusader. Not only that, Jerid had a precocious crush of sorts on her that she was willing to flatter given how he was so eager to learn from and please her. Returning some affection as a reward of sorts, helped by how he genuinely seemed to care for those around him despite his personality. Perhaps with the right fine tuning she could grow him out of his less savory traits entirely and turn him into a more admirable man.

Mograine took her warning about time to heart, not wanting to lose the chance to save the Grand Crusader against some foe, and so with no hesitation he torched the building and all those still within it.

Taking a small detachment of forces including Lila, Mograine left to return to the Monastery while Whitemane would continue their campaign. The light haired Inquisitor wished her fellow officer well, letting a piece of her emotions shine through as she watched him prepare himself for a real fight.

"Mograine, be safe."

Focused on his duty, Mograine ignored her and left, Lila trailing just behind him as she too thought about her endangered significant other.

Jerid, be safe...

Back at the Monastery, the invaders were forced to change from offense to defense far faster than they originally intended. With Trixie knocked out cold in a single, brutal strike from a man whose power emanated from him in a visible aura, Lavitz was left to lead the others in a counterattack. Kael had been healed by a woman wearing a hood as well as Dirge, which meant it was Lavitz, Tony, and Karl left to handle the Grand Crusader. With quick thinking Karl and Tony worked together to knock the majority of their hostages out, since they posed a great threat while their leader was in a dominant position. The one who had healed Kael was left alone though, so that she could continue tending to the damage on his body and removing the poison within.

Dathrohan was not about to let Trixie's allies rest easily, so he continued his surprise attack without relent by cornering Lavitz. The Warrior parried the Grand Crusader's powerful strike with a greatsword so large that it easily comprised half of Trixie's frame in width, with a length that allowed it also to test Lavitz's long spear.

Since he had a moment to prepare for Dathrohan's attack, Lavitz followed up his parry by kicking at the other man's knee. Dathrohan avoided the low blow and leapt back to avoid the sweeping strike of a spear that came his way. Now on the defensive, he found himself quickly forced to move again to avoid being run through with the same spear. Lavitz was nimble for a stocky soldier, and while not the fastest runner he possessed great striking speed.

The spear strike slid off the Crusader's armor, piercing some of the cloth over the metal that saved the Crusader from what might have otherwise been a fatal hit. With one hit in, Lavitz continued with an upward strike to slash diagonally across the other man's chest. Spear now over his own head, Lavitz spun it in a rapid twirl before bringing it down on Dathrohan's body in a reverse version of his last movement, cutting down across the same area so as to possibly break through the metal.

"Spinning Cane!" Lavitz called out, it being one of his weaker attacks but also one of the only ones he could achieve with his current level of strength.

Unfortunately for him, it was not enough to even faze Dathrohan, who laughed before backhanding Lavitz with his large weapon. Lavitz spun backwards a step and began to regain his footing as Dathrohan went straight for the kill with a slash at Lavitz's gut.

To his surprise, the sword found its mark, but did not penetrate too far into the armor. Lavitz absorbed the hit's impact and slid across the ground on his greaves, still standing but winded by the near-inhuman strength he just felt. After years of fighting and training Lavitz had once possessed even greater power, but for a Crusader past his prime and who was mainly an administrator now to match one of Stormwind's top soldiers former strength...that unnerved Lavitz.

"Your armor is quite formidable. I remember when your father wore it before you," Dathrohan smirked as he slowly approached the now backpedaling Warrior, having grown to respect his opponent and now appreciate the battle. It was not often he was faced with someone he could actually test himself with on some level, and he regretted not facing the Human when Lavitz was at his prime.

The two exchanged blows a few more times with Dathrohan showing an obvious control and dominance more and more with each passing second, though Lavitz fought through the pain wracking his body when struck by his powerful foe. This exchanging of hits continued until Dathrohan got an opening to speak again, at which point he stepped back instead of forward and brought a hand behind himself.

"Unfortunately, it provides no protection to magic, and even your stamina cannot last forever!"

Lavitz's eyes widened as he saw a hammer made of pure energy, a calling of the Light, appear in the Crusader's palm. He tried to sidestep it, but his mind caused him to stop as he came to a realization: Kael and the others were behind him. To not take the strike would possibly harm them, and he doubted many could take as many hits as himself.

The hammer slammed straight into Lavitz, going straight through his armor but not actually damaging it: instead its full power went straight through to him, and he growled in pain as he felt his body ignite in a burning pain.

Pleased by the effectiveness of his attack, Dathrohan repeated his attack. He had noticed how Lavitz was willing to take attacks in place of his allies as well as the hostages, so Dathrohan aimed more at them than at his actual opponent and as planned the attack collided with its intended target. Once again Lavitz took the hit and fought through the pain to continue standing: he was sure that if the Grand Crusader so chose he could finish the battle in a single stroke now given their difference in power, but he would not stop fighting so long as he held breath.

"I will not fall so long as I have my duty before me," Lavitz coughed out to himself as blood rushed to his lips as more Light summoned hammers assailed his body and completely ignored his armor, attacking straight at his very body and life.

Having seen Lavitz's spear deal nearly no damage to the Crusader, Karl and Tony had held back from engaging him since ranged weapons would be of little use. This did not mean however they were not interested in the outcome, as their future riches banked on Lavitz succeeding, so Karl grabbed the hostages they had kept awake and held his crossbow to each of their backs in a forceful way, alternating between them as he jabbed them, "You. Heal him."

Their lives threatened, Dirge and the hooded woman relented and began to cast a ranged form of healing magic on Lavitz. Suddenly empowered again and at full strength, Lavitz stopped letting Dathrohan hi at him from afar and rushed towards him, striking him head on with his spear before twirling around with a tornado of spear strikes.

"Rod Typhoon!"

Dathrohan scoffed even as he was driven back a bit by the hits he was suffering. Was this man actually calling his attacks in the middle of a battle?

"How childish. Did you never grow out of playing knight as a child?"

Lavitz did not respond, instead continuing to attack, causing Dathrohan to realize he ought to put him down before he got lucky and actually did any damage. With a powerful downward slash of his sword, Dathrohan smashed Lavitz back and momentarily overcame the constant stream of healing the man was receiving, causing Lavitz to nearly die in a single strike before the healing rapidly restored his health.

Irritated by how his own allies were being used against him, Dathrohan moved in for the kill, "I have had enough. Stand and be judged!"

Trixie opened her eyes to the sight of a black void. After blinking a few times she began to realize that she had some familiarity with this. In trying to move her arm she felt a weightlessness to her body, and after bringing a non-corporeal hand before her face she realized something about her situation.

"Am I...asleep?"

To be in control while she was asleep...the feeling felt odd, but not wholly "wrong". Like she had done this many times before. Why would she have had such an experience though, she wondered idly.

The void before her was suddenly supplanted by a hazy scene that was almost out-of-focus, like she was looking into a window rather than straight at something. Trixie tried approaching and focusing on it, only to find herself shocked by what she could see.

Kael was standing with a sword in one hand as his other arm lay limp at his side, while someone was standing before him, though partially hunched over due to the fact Kael's sword was run through their body.

The stabbed man's face, stoic even in extreme pain, and his mismatched blue and black eyes made Trixie quickly aware of who it was even if she could not make out many other details about the scene.

"Reuenthal?"

Reuenthal was standing in front of someone, shielding them with his body as he stoically stared Kael down. Using a hand, Reuenthal grabbed the sword penetrating him and held onto it with his whole might, at which point he lifted his pistol up to point at Kael and let loose his entire clip of bullets.

This seemed to anger rather than actually harm the Kael she was watching, whose eyes she could tell were disturbed: his clothing was the same as the fiend who visited Silvermoon and massacred his own people, and his eyes identified him as insane to Trixie.

She had stepped into another one of Kael's dreams...no, nightmares. This was not simply about the suffering from the time his people were nearly all slain, but something else. Why was Kael suffering from such dark thoughts as fighting one of his own men? Her own Kael was nowhere to be seen, so in the dream Kael must have been identifying as the monster trying to strike down whoever Reuenthal had protected.

Not about to just let someone shoot him at point blank range, the Kael Trixie was watching let go of his sword and prepared to fire a quick ball of fire at Reuenthal's head, though a hammer colliding rapidly with his face caused his aim to go awry and instead the fire flew away harmlessly.

The hammer belonged to Reuenthal's blonde friend, Mitter'meyer, whose face was one of pure rage as he arrived with a speed so great that it was as if he came from nowhere. He unleashed a quick hail of powerful strikes at Kael before the Elf Prince recovered and summoned with magic a mighty axe that had been laying on the ground and smashed it into Mitter'meyer's gut with such force that it flung the man back.

"Mitter'meyer!"

Trixie gaped as she saw Kael prepare another attack to now kill both Reuenthal and whomever he was guarding with his life, but someone jumped up from behind Reuenthal and at Kael with a murderous intent, possibly whomever Reuenthal was protecting or perhaps someone else.

The person who was attacking was hard to make out given a near intangible appearance they possessed, as if they had been invisible moments before and were transitioning to a state of visibility, but Trixie could recognize the hairstyle and the weapons they were using: in particular, she recognized those daggers.

"Vanessa?" Trixie gaped as the girl, now older than when she died at the Deadmines, began carving into Kael with a fury with which Trixie could not even compare her mental breakdown at the cave.

While he was seeming to finally give in to the various sources of damage being thrown at him by his multiple opponents, Kael fought through it so he could grab her by the neck one-handed and begin choking her. A glow around Vanessa was directly followed by her screaming as the glow began to leave her body and move towards Kael's own.

He was absorbing her magic, and from the look and sound of it he was killing her in a terrifyingly agonizing way.

Trixie felt herself begin to tear up as she tore her sight away from what she was watching, "No...this can't be..."

What had happened to Kael to make his dreams so disturbed? Why was he dreaming of such horrors?

As if she had willed it herself, Kael's dream disappeared and the void befell Trixie once again. She blinked and looked around as the sounds of battle disappeared, leaving her feeling alone. Empty.

"What's going on? What is this place?"

Trixie gasped as she heard another voice. She did not recognize it, but after briefly searching in the void she found herself in she came across a man with blonde hair wearing the Scarlet Crusade's armor.

"Dirge? Kacricon? Lila? Anyone!"

Had she somehow just pulled someone into her own dreamwalk? That was the man she had knocked out, and given that she too had been flung across the room and was likely nearby him, Trixie thought briefly about the implications of having dragged someone into her own dreaming...

"Why is he here?" Trixie questioned to herself in a whisper, not having been noticed by the Crusader yet. Why hadn't she been able to drag others into her dreams like this? She had shared dreams with Kael, so he didn't count, but others had been spared her odd dreams.

Trixie approached him within the void and closed her eyes, trying to use her senses to see if she could feel something. Surely enough, she recognized the power of mana within him, though it was faint compared to even Kael's modest amount. Her query answered, Trixie began to contemplate the situation again.

"This all feels familiar. How is it that I can somehow control my dreams? Be conscious and lucid like this?"

The Crusader seemed to be growing slightly more aware that he was not alone as he looked around in hopes of finding who had him trapped in this dark, desolate nightmare. Even without Kael's dream playing, being trapped in an endless void would be unnerving to most if caught off-guard with it.

"He must be unconscious as well..." Trixie began to hypothesize about how her magic worked, trying to make the best of her situation, "I also feel a hint of magic in him as well. I must be drawn to those with potential..."

This time he heard her and spun around to face Trixie, the tall and lanky Paladin's eyes lighting up with rage as he saw the one to blame for his situation.

"You! You're the one doing this!"

In a panic, Trixie threw herself back from him and tried to put distance between them, but something automatically clicked in her brain and suddenly she was looking as if through a window again: this time into what seemed like a barracks of the Monastery she was currently invading, given the similar ascetic and the arrangement of things.

The Crusader seemed aware of the sudden change, and he stumbled around as he tried to find the now-gone Trixie: Trixie could look in at him and his dream, but he could not see outside of his own dream.

"Where'd she go?"

His inquiry ffaded away as the general unconsciousness of being in a dream washed over him, and he came to accept his situation in a heartbeat despite previously being aware about its odd nature. This came to a head when he recognized someone who materialized in the barracks, and the man rushed over to the other person with obvious familiarity and warmth.

"Kacricon!"

The other man, a stockier yet similarly tall man who possessed short brown hair, turned and faced his seeming friend with a similar warmth.

"Jerid! How's it going?"

The two men exchanged a formal handshake, not seeming to be the touchy-feely types, and they quickly formed a close stance that showed Trixie that these two went a long ways back. While previously not so close minded as to assume they were all evil, seeing them display a normalcy in interaction even she didn't have with many others interested her.

Jerid smiled as he continued to greet his friend's appararition, "Did you hear? Dirge is coming to visit us since we need reinforcements."

That name rang a bell for Trixie, but she wasn't sure why just yet.

"I heard!" Kacricon nodded as he moved a hand to rub the back of his head nervously, "Unfortunately I am going on leave soon to visit my wife Amelia, so I'll only get to see him a couple days."

Jerid nudged his friend's chest with an elbow as he took the spot next to him, "I didn't know you had a girl waiting for you."

"Yeah, while you were off on your last campaign under Mograine I had time to visit one of the villages under our protection. Once the reinforcements have come and settled in I'll be off for a little while."

The two men began to talk about trivial things that went over Trixie's head, giving her time to contemplate what she was seeing. These people were just like many of the others she had come across...they had feelings, they had families, they had friends who they would light up simply by seeing. Trixie got the feeling that the instant joy she felt when she saw Kael after being separated was similar to how these two displayed their own bond, though she was sure Lavitz would argue there was more to her own bond with Kael. She'd deny any such silly notion, but she was still sure Lavitz would bring it up.

Unlike the Hunter, Trixie actually felt similar to how she had with Vanessa before: empathetic. While she did not like what these people did, or even who they might be as people, she could understand that they indeed had souls that were not as simple as "zealot crusader". Everyone had their own story, and she felt inwardly grateful for the chance to see that.

"They're living beings too..." Trixie began to say to herself as the scene before her shifted, Jerid's dream transforming to one by the front gates of the Monastery. Now instead of being with Kacricon he was standing with a blonde haired woman who he towered over in size, but who Jerid seemed completely cowed by merely being around. He wasn't grinning or smug like he had been with Kacricon, he was quiet and perhaps even nervuos as Trixie watched him flagging the woman's attention, for she seemed like she had been intending to leave.

"Lila..." Jerid paused as he tried to collect himself, "When you get back, do you want to..."

Trixie blushed as she realized she was watching her enemy ask a woman he liked out on a date.

The woman reacted quite well in comparison to Trixie, taking the awkward question in stride as she turned to face Jerid with a small smile, "Since you asked so nicely, sure."

Jerid looked as if the weight of the world had been taken off his shoulders and he smiled to Lila, "It's a date then."

Lila nodded and waved as she departed with a group of other soldiers Trixie did not recognize, nor who had much detail to them since Jerid must not have been paying much mind to them when this event happened in his past, "Just remember what I've been teaching you and you may yet be a real man and soldier."

The scene began to fade until Trixie could no longer even see Jerid, leaving her to wonder to herself about what she had been looking at. While Kael's dream had been a complete nightmare, Jerid's had been about past events...much like Trixie was familiar with in previous outings.

"If that's his past..."

...then was what Kael was dreaming also—

No. Trixie shook her head. The idea that she had been witnessing Kael's own past was something she refused to contemplate.

Her Kael was a good man who put her and those he cared about before everything else, even his life. He was not the fiend from Silvermoon, who she had most definitely seen in that dream.

Kael must be suffering from an identity crisis and think himself to be that villain they were all hoping to one day confront and defeat...

With this in mind, Trixie found herself drifting more and more away from consciousness and into actual sleep, now detached from the control she was exerting on the world around her.

Not remembering what he had just seen in his sleep, Jerid opened his eyes groggily and began looking around the room he was in slowly. A strange warmth was washing over his body as he did this, and it was not long before his eyes caught sight of someone kneeling down beside him.

"Jerid, good, you're awake."

That voice was his old training friend's, Kacricon. Good, now he was here to greet Dirge too...they had been training together at first before Jerid continued his martial training, Kacricon began to focus on logistics, and Dirge on his magical abilities. They all still remained close outside of that though, and Jerid and Kacricon had been fortunate enough to end up at the same garrison.

The sound of metal clashing jolted Jerid to what was actually happening. He had come to greet Dirge, who was acting weird, and then the woman who Dirge had brought inside had attacked Jerid. Beyond that it was all a blur, and his head was in such pain he did not even want to try and make sense of it, so he decided to let Kacricon do it for him.

"What happened?"

The man shrugged as he took a glance at the far side of the room where the sound of metal striking metal could be heard, "Some fools are trying to take over the Monastery. They have Dirge and the other healers hostage right now," Kacricon gripped his fist at the thought of their friend being in danger, "The Grand Crusader is mopping the floor with them though. This will be over soon enough. If they weren't being healed by their captives it already would be."

With healing on the mind, Jerid realized Kacricon had been healing him, which is what woke him up. Seeing as how Jerid was still in pain, it meant his friend was as poor at it as he had been back at training.

"Kacricon..." Jerid smiled weakly up at him, the bones in his face beginning to feel an ache in them as well, though he was guessing it would have been far worse without his friend's aid, "You never really good at healing."

"I suppose that's why I'm a quartermaster and not a Priest," Kacricon shrugged as he looked back to Jerid and returned the smile given to him, "You took a nasty hit. Your jaw was broken as was your cheekbones. The impact against the wall probably didn't do your body any favors either, so take it easy."

A flash of light caught the attention of every conscious soul in the room, and soon enough the sight of Dathrohan beating down on Lavitz was replaced with Dathrohan being thrown back by a powerful blast of magic.

Dathrohan tried recovering, only for another flash of light to blast him back from where he attempted to stand, "Who dares—"

Now standing up from where he had been laying with the hostages, Kael narrowed his eyes at the Grand Crusader. The Elf's body was glowing with magic that seemed to trail off to elsewhere in the room, and so empowered were his attacks that despite attacking with fire it had been so bright as to nearly blind those watching it.

"You did well, Lavitz. Take this moment to rest: I will handle this foe."

Lavitz took a knee and listened to Kael's advice. Despite being healed at every given moment he had nearly been torn apart at every single moment of his fight, always near death only to then be brought back to full health.

Dathrohan finally was able to stop himself and avoid Kael's third attack, a searing strike of fire that flew past the Grand Crusader and into the back of the room, "Kael'thas Sunstrider, in the flesh..." he grinned as he came to realize just what caliber of foe he ought to be facing, even if it made little logical sense given how he knew Kael'thas was in Outland, "How is it that there are two of you now? A most interesting question..."

Unlike the Grand Crusader, Kael did not recognize his foe, nor did he care. While normally his magic would have no effect on someone so powerful, Kael was not thinking and was acting as if on instinct, stealing power from around him to bludgeon his powerful opponent with magic just good enough to do its job, "I do not know who you are, but I will end what my allies have started," Kael waved a hand around the unconscious healers and a stream of mana began to pour from each of them. In his sleep he had remembered just how to steal magic: he had once taught his race how to take mana from others, and now he was remembering how to himself, "And to do so I will call upon every ounce of power that I can."

Dathrohan could see what Kael was doing and his eyes widened briefly before he came to a decision: Kael could increase his power the more time he was given, so it was vital to kill him as soon as possible. No toying around like with Lavitz.

Kael lifted his own blade up before him as the Crusader began a charge. The sword Kael had taken from the Stormwind official he had found so useless, originating first from the Wrynns, burst into flames as Kael channeled his magic over it. The enchantments and inherent magic in the weapon kept it from melting at the searing energy pressed over it from the hilt onwards. With his weapon now possessing power similar to his own, Kael threw himself into a charge to match that of Dathrohan.

The Grand Crusader, used to Lavitz's defensive manner of fighting, expected to trade blows with Kael as the two met—only for Kael to surge past him and for his blade to slice through the side of Dathrohan's armor. The Grand Crusader's own weapon cut across Kael as well, the Prince having chosen for them both to be harmed rather than for them to cancel out eachother's attacks.

Dathrohan turned as they each finished their charge, coming to face Kael who had turned around as well. Despite the immense pain each felt, neither let it show on their faces. Dathrohan was surprised to the point of actual anger that he had been wounded: no-one had wounded him in some time, and for reasons no others would understand this infuriated the Crusader.

He threw a hammer of light at Kael with far more power and speed than he had with Lavitz, only to then catch a fireball the size of a person right in the gut. His attack struck Kael as well, but Kael ignored it as he prepared another attack.

Having sensed Kael's power when he first arrived, Dathrohan began panicking mentally as he realized that Kael's power was increasing with each moment. While he could have killed Kael with a simple hit originally, now the man was standing after multiple hits that would have killed him outright before many times over. With each passing second an aura was growing larger and larger around Kael, one which possessed a fiery quality that was beginning to singe the floor and nearby structures in the room from the wall to the pillars keeping it all up.

With a snap decision, Dathrohan charged at Kael again and threw far more than his weight into this attack: his own aura intensified with a power Kael had not felt before, but the singularly focused Prince did not care: he would defeat this man who had harmed his companions, and he would save them with this power he was taking from everyone around him even without thought. The flow was tied seemingly to his rage, which while repressed beneath an icey exterior was going wild within, as he had caught sight of a wounded Trixie upon awakening, quickly followed by seeing Lavitz's near-death wounds inflicted over and over. He was growing madder, and with it his ability to steal the magic and power around him was increasing, causing him to grow even hotter in rage as his fire magic surged.

Kael and Dathrohan moved to collide once again, but this time the magic surrounding them prevented either from drawing too close to the other: their swords, infused with magic, could not penetrate the visible auras around each of them. While Kael was surrounded with a purple glow, Dathrohan had the green and black coloration of fel magic surround him as he unleashed his full potential and tried to burst Kael down.

Across the room, Kacricon and Jerid had become concerned with their superior's performance. This was someone who could defeat the most powerful of warriors and he was struggling against this upstart Elf...just who was he? They had not heard what Dathrohan had been saying, and they along with the other Crusaders Kacricon had brought with him had stayed back so as to not interfere with their superior's battle he had previously seemed to enjoy. At this point though, it was more of an equal struggle, and it was becoming less so with each passing moment as the air around Kael burned hotter and hotter as he sucked the magic from every mana-filled person in the room, including Dathrohan and the already weakened Jerid.

Kacricon placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "It seems like the Grand Crusader might need a little backup after all. Mind if I take the glory of defeating them and avenge your loss, as well as Dirge's capture?"

While he wanted to prove himself after his humiliation earlier, Jerid could barely walk with the damage he had taken in addition to his energy being sapped now by Kael, "Go ahead. It's not like I'm much help like this..."

Kacricon stood and ran up to where the battle was raging. On one side Dathrohan was fighting to hold his ground, trying to force his blade through the rush of power bursting from Kael, while on the other Kael was trying to advance step by step and cut into Dathrohan's own aura that was protecting him.

Nearly knocked off his feet just by being near it, Kacricon summoned a divine shield upon himself, protecting his body from the power that was trying to sear him and blow him away. Dathrohan realized that he had someone to help him now, adding to his chances of winning, and saw that Kacricon had decided to come from behind Kael.

If the man could strike Kael and disrupt his slow advance, Dathrohan could seize the opportunity and cut his foe down in a single blow, or so he believed. As a result he called out to his soldier and encouraged his plan, "Lieutenant Kacricon, the aid is welcome. Finish him!"

As ordered, the quartermaster began making his way towards Kael, who could not turn his attention back lest he twist the focus of his magical barrier from his true opponent who was waiting for the perfect moment to upset the balance and end things. As Kacricon began his approach, slowed by the constant pressure trying to force him back and the rapidly increasing heat of Kael's burning magic, Jerid noticed that his friend's shield was just barely holding against the constant bombardment it was going through.

Jerid tried getting up, only to fail due to his wounds, and so he lifted a hand up instead as he called out about his fears, "Wait, Kacricon, you'll burn if you get too close!"

His friend, usually the more pragmatic and intelligent of the two, was blinded by the chance of glory for saving their leader from such a powerful foe. All it would take was one strike, and the battle could be turned, so Kacricon called back out to his friend, "Sometimes in battle you have to take risks to succeed, Jerid!"

The back of his summoned shield had been the least powerful, with it having been like a second skin that was thinnest right there, and so when a pair of daggers collided with Kacricon's back he instantly faltered given how easy it was to break through his magic: he had been trying to not be killed by the man in front of him, leaving his back open, similar to Kael himself.

The daggers did not remain in place for long, as a quick figure leapt through the aura, onto Kacricon's shoulders, and kicked off them while ripping the blades from the man's back. After sailing over the entire magical display in an acrobatic display, Vanessa landed herself and threw off the blood now coating her blades. She turned back to see if she had succeeded, not having had long to do what she was doing lest she befall the same fate the man she stabbed was going to.

Kacricon's shield broken, Kael's aura began to show its power on the man. His body lit up in flame as he tried futily to finish his advance, only having had a few more feet to do, and he began to scream as his body burned away. Kael spared the man a glance as he began to incinerate before them all, both regretting that it had come to this but also not caring because he had not made the man attack and risk his life.

Eyes tearing, Jerid forced himself onto his knees so he could try and reach out towards his friend, "No!"

Amelia...

With the thought of his wife on his mind, Kacricon's body disappeared in the light surrounding Kael, no trace left behind as it burned away.

While previously nearly disabled by his wounds, Jerid threw himself to his feet and began to charge towards the battle: his eyes were focused only on Vanessa, who had come around to take a look at the hostages, one of whom she had recognized.

"Murderer!" Jerid cried out as he pulled out a blade of his own. Its blade began to glow with magic as well as his holy power let itself out through it, his rage and desire for retribution granting him strength beyond his natural limit.

Vanessa sneered as she saw the soldier she had fought previously run across the long room, "You can still stand, can you?" preparing her own blades out again, Vanessa ran to meet him in battle, "Here, let me help you with that!"

Jerid's attack was wild, yet stunningly accurate, as he swung his sword widely with enough power that when it hit a nearby pillar it carved through the part of the structure struck and continued on to his next swing. Vanessa had narrowly avoided it by sliding beneath it and across the ground, giving her a perfect chance to take a slash at his leg.

Gritting his teeth at the pain, Jerid continued his swing to strike at where Vanessa had slid to, though instead he damaged the floor as she twisted herself out of the way. They were on completely different levels, but this was unlike before when Vanessa had been restraining herself against him: whereas she could have easily killed him in the kitchen, his blinding anger actually was nearly unnerving her with how vastly he increased in power.

With another swing of her daggers from her spot on the floor, Vanessa damaged his other leg and managed to trip Jerid as he tried to turn and face her. She sunk her blade into his thigh, missing his artery because of how he twisted and tried to throttle her. Just barely escaping his melee attempt, Vanessa launched herself to her feet and then kicked his severe leg wound.

"How's it feel to be the one crawling now?" she taunted, though when she caught sight of his eyes she froze for a moment.

Jerid was looking at Vanessa with the same hatred fueled eyes she would when she was fighting those responsible for her father's death. He was driven by grief the same way she was, and he was so furious that he was fighting past his limits to enact the revenge his soul craved to make up for the loss he felt. She had slain the close friend he had who had helped mentor him and grow these past years, and he would fight to the death to avenge him.

Thrown off for a second by her sudden realization, Vanessa felt a hand grip her shin, and suddenly she was being swung into the nearby pillar as if she were a weapon.

Ever the schemer, Dathrohan had begun observing the melee between Vanessa and Jerid in case things went his way. His slight distraction allowed Kael to press forward and nearly break through the man's now faltering barrier of energy. While Kael's was an explosion of the magic his body could simply not contain as it grew ever more powerful, the Grand Crusader literally possessed a barrier similar to Kacricon's that was beginning to crumble despite having been vastly more powerful.

"Keep your eyes on me, Crusader!" Kael yelled, not wanting the man to perhaps interfere with Vanessa's fight, since Kael was quite sure the man could overpower her easily, and her current opponent was actually keeping her on her toes.

Dathrohan grunted as he realized he was about to be overcome, not understanding how he was losing to someone he should be able to beat given the low power he sensed. There must be some well of magic Kael was drawing from, as this was surely not magic from the Crusaders in the room, a well of magic so deep and powerful that Kael could transform it directly into his own fighting strength without thought, "This strength...are you tapping into your own power or—"

On the sidelines Lavitz had noticed something across the room, and after limping across it tiredly he had come to realize his fears were true: every time Kael drew power, every time he used his magic, and with each passing second, Trixie began to writhe in greater and greater pain. So hurt by it in fact, Trixie had gone from consciousness to unconsciousness to consciousness again multiple times during the battle, magic being ripped from her body at a far greater rate than she could handle. The magic that let her contest a legend such as Kargath was now coupling with what else Kael could steal to defeat Dathrohan. So focused on his fight, Kael had not been paying mind to those on the sidelines and had completely lost track of Trixie during it.

"Kael, stop it! What's the point of defeating him if you kill Trixie in the process!?" Lavitz cried out in worry, panic stricken that the Prince might not hear him.

Fortunately for Trixie, Kael heard Lavitz, and he turned to look just as he broke through Dathrohan's barrier, his sword slashing across the man's chest and sending him flying back with such speed that he left a crater in the wall he struck. Now free from his immediate threat, Kael focused on what Lavitz was saying, and when he saw that it was true his face paled.

Seeing that he was getting through to him, Lavitz continued to yell, "You're draining power from everyone with access to mana, but you're taking from Trixie the most! She'll die if you keep this up!"

Looking down at his own hands and then around the room. Kael could see multiple streams of magic flowing towards him. While he had regained his ability to steal power, he had no true control over it, and his rage was causing him to use it on a level far beyond what he ought to be.

Ripping himself from the impact he made on the wall, Dathrohan gasped for air and tried to steady himself as he turned his gaze to where Kael was looking, "So that worthless Elf is your source of power?" he coughed up blood as he formed a ball of black-green magic in his hand, "She'll die first then!"

Kael, forcing himself to stop stealing magic, still had enough left in him to throw himself in the way of the shadowy bolt aimed at Trixie and then return fire with a powerful blast of magic himself. His hit slammed back the Grand Crusader again, though he remained on his feet this time.

"This power..." Dathrohan gripped his chest as he felt the damage inflicted by Kael, felt the magic that had struck him and what it reminded him of, "No, the Sunwell's energies are with another. But it is so similar, can it be..."

His pondering was cut off by Kael unleashing a torrent of flames that washed over the entire corner of the room Dathrohan stood. Intent on murdering the man for trying to harm Trixie, Kael threw more and more of his remaining power into his attack as he let loose all self-restraint concerning Trixie's aversion to killing.

"Damnit, I underestimated you all, but I will not be defeated!" Dathrohan called out as he tried to fight back against the fire, albeit to no avail. He began to collapse within the fire thrown on top of him much like a flamethrower might, but that did not stop the Elf from continuing his attack. While Trixie was kind and took the moral path in fighting, Kael was pragmatic and willing to do whatever was necessary to win, and he would not allow someone this dangerous to just go.

"Kael!"

In a single moment his attack stopped. Two arms had wrapped around his stomach, pale skin nearly burning as his superheated armor touched the soft flesh now wrapped around him.

Burying her face into his back, Trixie clutched her partner tightly as she spoke in a calming tone, "It's okay...I'm okay..."

So lost in his anger, Kael could not even respond. A part of him had gone a place he had not known he possessed: a cold blooded killer had emerged, and it made him scared of himself as he realized how close he had just come to not only killing his opponent, but also Trixie in his anger.

Not caring about the heat she felt, Trixie continued to hug him in her attempt to calm him down. When he had stopped forcefully taking her power she had used a scrap to teleport beside him, not sparing a moment when it meant she could save him from himself. Save him from being like the person in their shared dream.

"Please, Kael, come back to me."

With that, Kael fell to his knees and stopped moving completely except for bringing a hand to touch Trixie's own. Having succeeded, Trixie smiled sadly and moved so she could see his face.

Kael was crying, his eyes distant, and he seemed to be in a state of shock.

Bringing a hand to his face and gently stroking it, Trixie tried to smile and make him feel better, "You have the capacity for great things, Kael...but don't let your willingness to sacrifice yourself make you into the monster you try to fight."

"Trixie..."

Giving him another hug, Trixie stood up and took another glance around the room. One corner had a fire spreading, which she solved by throwing a series of ice spells on it, while in the center Jerid was fighting...Vanessa?

After having been caught off guard by him and having received a few hits from the Paladin Crusader, Vanessa had regained the upper hand given Jerid's already wounded status and she had begun to wound him more and more, limb by limb, causing him to be in a barely-living state as he continued to get up and try to fight.

Having satiated her anger towards the man, Vanessa decided it was time to put him out of his misery. She approached him and drew an arm back to prepare a stab, "You're tough, but like this you're no threat," forcing her arm forward, Vanessa yelled, "Die!"

The attack did not land because Vanessa's arm was grabbed by Trixie, who had teleported beside her. Surprised by this, Vanessa twisted around to face the person suddenly touching her as Trixie tightened her grip and refused to let her go, "Vanessa, stop!"

Realizing that it was Trixie, the reason she was here and the reason she had leapt into a dangerous battle to protect, Vanessa calmed down and averted her eyes. Using the bottom of her weapon, she bashed Jerid across the face and let him collapse on the ground instead of finishing him off.

Pleased by what Vanessa chose to do, Trixie smiled at the teenager, "We did not come here to kill them," she glanced over to the exit of the chapel to see that Karl and Tony had taken care of the other Crusader reinforcements and were looking to her for orders, "We're done here. We have more territory to claim in this Monastery, so leave them. Karl, you manage the hostages. Tony, we'll get you to the gate so you can make sure no reinforcements come."

Her job as boss in a dangerous operation complete for the moment, Trixie turned back to Vanessa and gave her a big smile as water began to form in the woman's eyes. Surprising Vanessa yet again, Trixie pulled the girl into a tight hug that was made tighter by Trixie's massive strength, though not suffocating because of Vanessa's own strength.

"Vanessa, you're alive," Trixie sobbed as she gripped the girl she thought she had caused the death of. Seeing the misguided, hurt child alright made a selfish part of Trixie feel better.

Vanessa, on the other hand, was shocked as Trixie forced their bodies together so tightly, embarassed by the display of affection, "Hey, knock it off!"

Trixie loosened her grip and smiled down at the younger girl, "You're a strong girl, but that doesn't mean others can't care about you," she paused before realizing something that made her smile more, "Did you come to help us?"

Vanessa shrugged nonchalantly, trying to downplay what she had done, but Trixie was not about to let her go just like that.

"Thank you," Trixie brought a hand to tussle Vanessa's hair, "Don't worry about this setback, we'll win in the end. We just need to maintain control long enough for it all to come to fruition."

"I poisoned their food, so it should be easier," Vanessa offered as a piece of information, though it made Trixie glare at her.

Seeing that she was being judged, Vanessa blushed as she became defensive of her actions, "Don't worry, its diluted. I had too many bastards to poison with only a small bit of poison, but it should knock them down a few pegs compared to how they would have been."

Glancing around and seeing that Kae had not moved at all yet, Trixie decided that she ought to go tend to him again. She let Vanessa go and pointed her over to Karl and Tony, "Good job then. Talk to the others about the plan, I have to talk to Kael about something, okay?" Vanessa nodded and began to go on her way, but not before Trixie could whisper, "I'm glad you're alive."

"Kael..."

He had not moved at all because of how stricken with grief he was. Lavitz was right. He had nearly killed Trixie, and he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he had.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, unable to face his partner.

Taking a seat beside him, Trixie brought her arms around him. He had begun to cool down now that he was not literally bursting with flames, "I am now..."

Leaning her head against him, Trixie showed affection when Kael expected fear from her. She did not judge him for his actions because of how he had been trying to protect her, unaware that he had been hurting her.

"You're a good man, you know that, right?"

Shocked by her forgiveness, Kael turned to face her finally while showing his surprise on his face, "Trixie?"

Instead of answer what he was thinking, namely 'how could you forgive me', Trixie changed the subject in his eyes, "Do you remember what you were dreaming about?"

"This time?" Kael tried, but his state of intense emotion had stricken him of what little he could have possibly recalled from it, since it had been the last thing on his mind when he woke up, "No...why?"

Trixie looked ahead, deep in thought, for a half minute before shaking her head and then turning to face Kael with another sad smile. Taking his hand in her own, she spoke softly.

"Don't worry about it..."

With her best friend next to her, Trixie for the first time began to truly doubt what she kept saying about them being only friends.

Author's Note

A/N: Vanessa should start a diary.

Rest Experience 6: Mid-Siege Break

A/N: Special thanks to Bumblebee Tuner, Amethyst Blade, GamerGoddessDin, the other sans, Freya, AdmiralPopeyesBeard and Doctorfoxwolf for your comments last time, and I hope to hear from you again! I was able to bring out this chapter so quickly because of your support, so the more I hear from you all, the more motivated I'll be to bring you out new chapters as soon as possible!

This chapter is our obligatory cooldown chapter after that major battle, which gives us a chance for Trixie to do something she's been meaning to, as well as flesh out our cast a bit.

I hope you all will enjoy, and that I will hear from you in the comments below!

“Are you okay?”

Vanessa blinked as she realized someone had moved beside her. She had been sulking on her own after being appraised of the situation, intent on not letting the others know how she was feeling self-conscious about doing something she knew Trixie would not like: namely, killing someone. Vanessa had known Trixie would be at least opposed given how she acted at the Deadmines, but after hearing that Trixie was forbidding her allies from killing anyone Vanessa felt even worse.

She did not regret actually killing someone, that she was used to by this point, but the thought that she might earn Trixie's ire was weighing heavily on the teenager. She had followed Trixie to repay her for her kindness, as well as out of loneliness caused by losing nearly all of her criminal enterprise. She had nothing else, having burned her old home to the ground in fear that it would cause her own death, so Vanessa was desperate to find a place to be.

Lavitz giving her a concerned look and placing a hand on her shoulder made her feel like she was among friends...but that did not keep Vanessa from trying to push his gauntleted hand away. She wasn't used to people touching her without ill intentions, and those she was used to receiving positive attention from were all dead.

“What do you care?”

The Warrior let her remove his hand, though he did not scram like she had hoped he would. It was obvious to the older and wiser soul that she was feeling hurt, and he wasn't going to just let her emotional state go unattended.

Instead of her shoulder, Lavitz took her wrist in a firm yet gentle manner, holding a tight grip on her without inflicting harm on her because he knew she was going to struggle. Once he had her wrist under control, he turned it over to show him her hands. They showed slight signs of having been burned, likely from when she grabbed her superheated blades and removed them from Kael's fire, though no real harm was done.

Still, that she had harm at all done to her hands was a tragedy in the soldier's eyes. As were the callouses he could see on her hands, born o hard work and battles not befitting someone her age, “A child like yourself shouldn’t have to fight. I became a knight to protect others, so seeing someone your age staining their hands with blood…”

Realizing that, despite possessing magical artifacts that gave her strength on par with the grown man, he was not letting go, Vanessa just looked away from him, hiding her bashful face as she gave in.

“Well...don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

"I would be more inclined to believe you if you had not nearly died the last time I saw you."

Backtalk rose in Vanessa's throat, but she forced it down as she realized he did have a good point. The last time he saw her, she had fallen to her death...either from wounds or from drowning. He hadn't known that Cookie had saved her, and now here she was again in perfect health...fighting with them instead of against them.

His concern actually made her feel guilty. She had held him for months on the brink of death in the Deadmines, but here he was concerned about her own well being? He was the opposite of everything she had come to know Stormwind's forces to be: Lavitz seemed to care too much instead of showing an apathy to the plight of the common people.

Her shoulders slumped as guilt wracked Vanessa's young mind. She had held him captive and treated him like he was any other soldier, not a Human being, but here he was with a level of empathy that far outshone her own, “You tried to save me, even though you were my prisoner…were starved and nearly killed by us…”

Lavitz let go of her and shook his head, “I cannot blame you for not feeding me when you could barely feed yourselves.”

He took a step forward and clenched a fist, an action that only preceded him swinging it at a pillar in front of him by seconds. His strike did not damage it like one of Trixie's may have, but a powerful force could still be witnessed behind it and it made Vanessa's posture straighten out as her eyes jolted open.

Letting his fist unclench, the soldier looked ahead instead of at Vanessa as he began to show a crack in his knightly facade, “The Saldeans were relatives of mine. I cannot forgive you for killing them, but I do understand why you did,” he looked back to Vanessa and stopped. Looking over her, he began to reminisce over a similar spitfire girl he once knew, “My sister once stayed with them for some time due to what could have been a scandal. I owe them a lot for what they have done for my family…but now I cannot repay them.”

“I…they…”

Vanessa didn't know what to say. She had killed them in desperation, of a need to survive, but that did not truly settle the demons within her gnawing at her mind ever since she had committed that unforgivable crime. She only wished that that Hunter had not come...a person so heartless and without scruples that they would have done far worse than VanCleef had. Torture before agonizing death, not to mention harming Katz, Letz, and Kikka.

With the other orphans on her mind, Vanessa found a way to continue speaking without losing her voice like before, “There are three orphans who were living with them who now are in Stormwind. Their names are Katz, Letz, and Kikka. Can you see about making sure they are okay?”

Lavitz turned around fully to bow to the teenager in a polite fashion, his voice such that he was making a pact without the other formalities, “I will check on them myself when I return.”

Vanessa looked away from him again, “Thank you...”

Standing up straight, Lavitz smiled and lifted his hand up to touch her chin, his finger bringing it up so that she was looking at him, "You care about them. A telling sign that you aren't as bad as you think you are."

The surprise in her eyes drew his attention to them, and he did not find the eyes of a cold-blooded murderer but rather that of a scared child. She had built up a cold facade and had her soul chilled by the events she had been through, but even then she had been kept from going over the edge by the love and compassion given to her by the Saldeans. She was likely distraught over what she had just done in the last battle, and was probably trying to justify it to herself, but her mind was no doubt casting doubts on her because of how killing someone went against Trixie's wishes.

"In battle you sometimes must take lives, that is unavoidable. Not everyone can walk the path Miss Lulamoon wishes to," a path that Lavitz would walk as well as far as he could until it would cost their lives otherwise. He believed in the duo he had requested to serve under, and even if the path was made more difficult by choosing not to kill he was willing to do just that. Still, having taken many lives in his time as a knight, Lavitz was not about to judge someone for doing the same, "That man died a painful death, but it was partly his own fault. Partly Kael's, and partly your own. But do not blame yourself fully for what happened," the frown that had slowly grown on his face was replaced by a calming smile, "You came here to protect a woman you feel you owe your life, a noble goal, so she will not judge you for what happened despite her own moral trappings."

Vanessa hung her head in shame, not able to honestly say he was wrong or that his intuition was off at all. She blinked as she felt her eyes begin to water, regret finding a new avenue to show itself, "I've lost everyone else...even when I captured her, even when I was fighting her, she showed me empathy. She understood my pain and refused to hurt me because of it. I don't deserve..."

As her eyes began to shut and drip with tears Vanessa found herself being embraced for the second time that day. Her head became buried on the metal of Lavitz's ancestral armor, the boisterous man speaking quietly as he held her, "You have beautiful blue eyes like my sister. The more I look at them, the more I remember her, so don't go and ruin them with tears, okay?"

Vanessa looked up and saw that the man was smiling through pain of his own.

What could have happened to make the friendly soldier's heart ache like this?

After they finished their moment, Vanessa went back over to where Kael and Trixie had been sitting for the short duration since Vanessa parted ways with Trixie. They were nestled together in a way that showed their close bond, with Trixie calming down the previously berserking Kael just by being beside him. He had been infuriated by her having been hurt, but his rage had caused her pain as well, and that conflict of motive and actions had left him broken.

Having been shown compassion, Vanessa decided to return it in some form. She was not really used to doing this, not in any true fashion, so she hesitantly stood beside the two Elves for many moments before awkwardly kneeling down and bringing a hand to touch Trixie's shoulder.

"Are...are you okay?"

Trixie opened her eyes and turned to look at Vanessa. Trixie had been crying for some reason unknown to both Kael and Vanessa, but she was not about to vocalize it, instead turning to Kael and prodding him for how he was doing.

"Kael?" she asked as she put on a falsely happy face.

Kael moved to look at both of them, "I will be..." hugging Trixie tightly for a moment, Kael then turned his attention fully to Vanessa and smiled up at her, "Thank you Vanessa. You saved my life. Our lives."

As to be expected, Vanessa tried to diminish what she had done and make it sound less selfless, despite the immense danger she had undergone to meddle, "If you died, so would Miss Trixie."

It was obvious that she didn't want to be praised, so Kael kept it minor while still continuing, "Even so, I owe you. Thank you."

He brought a hand up to tussle the child's hair, but Vanessa stumbled back and fell down to get out of the embarrassing display.

"W-why are you all so touchy?"

Kael and Trixie laughed as Vanessa tried to crawl away from where they were sitting, "Sorry, didn't mean to offend you..." remembering that they were in the middle of a hostile takeover, he moved to get up before feeling massive pangs of pain in his body. He had burned through all of the energy he had taken in addition to his own, so he was now left with the exhaustion that was to come from such exertion, "I need a moment to recover. Fortunately it doesn't seem like they are about to attack us again, so we have time to rest."

Trixie had also been exhausted by the battle, having had her power taken by Kael by accident, but she had not gone through the physical motions of it and so was spared some of the same pain as him. She managed to rise up to her feet and dust herself off while Kael was left on the ground looking up at her.

“Trixie?”

She smiled down at him genuinely before turning and walking away, “I need to try something while we have time. You stay here and rest.”

Trixie was beginning to get a real grasp of her dreamwalking powers, but she was hesitant to use them on her allies...

She knew, however, that a certain enemy was also capable of being on the receiving end of her powers, so she saw this as a perfect opportunity to test her latent powers and see if she could extract any value from them in the battles to come.

In the woods of the Tirisfal Glades, where both the Undercity with the Undead and the Scarlet Crusade's Monastery coexisted, the team of followers sent by Trixie to distract the garrison of Scarlet Crusaders were succeeding in their mission. They had led them astray and the main fighting force would not be able to return and influence the battle there for quite some time, meaning Trixie and the others had plenty of time to go and lock everything down there.

At least, that's what should have been the case. As the follower's squad leader Sayaka would soon realize as they kept up their pace drawing the Crusaders away from their fortress, there did not exist one sole group of Scarlet Crusaders.

A lone man with auburn hair passed by in a part of the forest nearby them, though he did not seem to notice them at all as he rushed towards the direction of the Scarlet Monastery. His armor signified him as one of their members, but the ornate mace he carried and customized pieces to his armor signified that he was no regular soldier. Such was the speed he was running that by the time they could have intercepted him or drawn his attention that it was already too late for Trixie's followers to do so, but it did warn them that other Crusaders may be coming from the same direction.

Sayaka paused to look, and sure enough a squad of Scarlet Crusaders were coming from the same forest clearing. If they were to get to the Monastery too soon, Trixie and the others might not be ready for them.

"Uh oh," Sayaka spoke to her team as they continued to make way running from the Crusaders tracking them, "We can't distract them all in addition to the force we already are stalling."

If Trixie were to come into any harm, her employer would have her head. As such, Sayaka passed leadership onto one of the other members and began to run in a different direction from them.

"I'll stall them while you guys continue what we're doing."

Getting in their path would be easy...fighting a dozen or so Crusaders on her own would be a challenge in the simple body of a Human.

Given that the leader, whoever he was, was on a rapid course for the Monastery Sayaka thought it best to warn the others. Fortunately they had headsets that allowed easy communication, so she had direct contact, "Boss, you there?"

It took a moment, but the voice that responded was not Trixie but rather Tony's, "They are...occupied."

Not quite sure what that meant, Sayaka decided to use what little time she had left before the Crusaders reached her position to explain what was happening, "Well Tony, you guys got more bad guys headed your way. They are a good three miles away, and do not appear to have mounts. I will try to slow them down for you, but one got by already!"

"Very vell. We'll have to close the gates soon then. Karl!" Tony called his brother, and Sayaka assumed the two were about to prepare to take the gate.

"I'll leave you to it," Sayaka stopped using the communicator when the Crusader group she was intercepting stopped a good twenty feet from her, "You'll stop there if you know what's good for you. I know how to use this thing, for reals!"

Sayaka brandished a blade as if from thin air and held it forward as if to threaten them. The Crusaders looking at this mostly laughed, though the one standing at the front of their group instead took a deeper look at the young blue haired girl.

"You're young, aren't you? What are you doing here?" Lila asked her opponent. She was not averse to fighting anyone who attacked her, but she was confused as to why a kid would be here. Were they in league with the people attacking the base?

"Yeah, so what? I won't let you get past me!"

Lila snarled as she drew her own weapon. This girl stood in the way of them getting to the Monastery, and that was not something Lila was going to easily forgive. She was worried that her comrades were dying there, and that in particular her pupils may be harmed in her absence.

"Sorry kid, but I don't have time for this!"

Jerid, Kacricon, you two better be alright...

Trixie had, by closing her eyes and touching Jerid's shoulder, been able to launch herself into the dreamworld she had encountered in her own sleep. It took what felt like forever to orientate in the weightless place that was the void she was in, but Trixie found herself able to get her bearings straight with what felt like familiarity.

She had done this before...somehow, she had done this in her past before her current memories started. Had she been able to do it as a horse? If so, how? Could she use magic as a horse? And if she could, why would she peer into the minds of others in their sleep? That felt like something someone far more powerful, someone like a goddess, ought to do...

Princess Luna...

That name floated out to Trixie in the darkness she found herself. It held significance, Trixie knew it did, but she could not pin it yet.

"Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Trixie blinked as she turned and saw a spitting image of her equine self standing atop some kind of stage.

Well, spitting image except that it was smaller than her own body when she took that form...was this when she was younger? What else could cause her to be smaller? She didn't look like a filly though...

An unseen audience let out an "Ooh!" that showed their enthusiasm, and Trixie began to focus the control she held over the dreamworld to get a better look.

Her other self continued to boast in front of the crowd in a showmare's haughty voice, "Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!"

Fireworks and fanfare sounded, though Trixie could only just barely make out the sparks of the fireworks. She was getting better at this, but still this was uncharted territory for her.

A series of dissenting voices in the crowd, overall a minority against the cheering of the fans, caught the ears of both Trixies, and the one on stage appeared to take offense...as she should, given that some ponies were trying to ruin a performance instead of just leave if they did not like it, as was proper etiquette.

"Well, well, well, it seems we have some neighsayers in the audience. Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they're in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?" the dream-Trixie called the hecklers out, though the actual Trixie shook her head and dispelled the scene from her mind.

She came here to learn how to better interact with other people's minds. She always could tinker with her own mind and powers, but she did not have unlimited access to the sleeping man with some magic potential.

By shoving away her own dream, Trixie found herself suddenly in the one she had intended to enter. She found herself in some meeting room with the same decor of the Monastery, and the details being discussed meant little to her given that this was hardly a reliable source of current troop movements and plans.

During the meeting, however, Trixie listened in on the person remembering these events: Lieutenant Jerid Messa, who had a distinct scowl as he listened in on the auburn haired man giving orders and explaining things to everyone. Sitting in the seat next to Jerid was a slightly older woman (who Trixie would learn was named Lila) with a sandier shade of blonde hair than Jerid's color that matched Lavitz's blonde, and half of Jerid's irritation in the meeting could be chalked up to her: she mocked him for being the "Famous Lieutenant Jerid Messa. Goes out and comes back without doing a thing", mocking him for what Trixie assumed was his battle performance. The other half of his irritation came from likely accepting and being angry at his own failures, so he was paying twice for the same failure.

His responses and actions during the meeting painted him in a way that made Trixie's own dream feel less random: he was smug too, even in the face of criticism.

"This man..." Trixie murmured to herself as she continued to spy in on him. His personality reminded Trixie of the stereotypical jerk-jock, but at the same time she had seen firsthand that he was more than that...the fact that he was not solely a jerk irritated her, as it would be easy to criticize him if that was the case. As it was, he was a smug, self-centered guy who would go berserk if his friends were to come to any harm...

Trixie frowned as she remembered her own haughty moments, such as the recent occasion of being utterly caught off guard by Dathrohan while she was beaming about how great her plan was going, or when she nearly became a killer herself when she saw the Hunter kill Kael...fortunately Chromie had changed the timeline, but Trixie remembered her own feelings of undying rage and need for retribution.

Namely, she was uncomfortable with the parallels she found.

After the meeting ended things began to shift into greater detail for Trixie, with the woman who had been accosting Jerid leaving and him following behind her. She was doing so with the quick pace of a trained soldier, while he had to fight to catch up. She was a quarter down the hallway by the time he left the doorway.

“Hey, wait!”

The blonde woman in the red clothing of a Crusader turned to face him with some disgust, “Oh yeah? Why?”

Bringing his fists up into a boxing pose, Jerid lunged at Lila in the brief opening left by her turning.

Unfortunately for him, she sidestepped him with ease and his fist sailed past her head while her right leg kicked his own right leg while he passed by, “Ah, ahhhhh!”

Lila scoffed as she watched him stumble onto the ground, taking a position now behind him and taking delight out of the foolish display, “Give it up Lieutenant, you’ll never beat me.”

Trixie could tell what was about to happen next before it even played out, and part of her wanted to hide her eyes from it if she was not still feeling out the extent of her powers.

Jerid recovered quickly from his fall and spun around to try lunging again, this time with a lower center of gravity to his attack, but what this resulted in was a jump kick right to the face. Such was her strength that Jerid slammed into the ground and bounced before regaining his footing, displaying the same fortitude that he had when fighting Vanessa.

Thoroughly not impressed, his opponent continued to talk down to him as Lila stood calmly in front of Jerid's bruised body, “Don’t you realize you’re not ready for the big leagues yet? Why can’t rookies get it through their heads that it’s different here on the frontlines?”

Using the wall to help himself halfway up, Jerid stopped his offense to ask her a simple question, “Why is that?”

“Why is what?” she snappily answered.

Jerid clenched a fist as he remained in a kneeling position, not intending to swing it but rather to demonstrate his frustration. Despite his humiliation he had a semi-calm voice that showed he had accepted defeat, though a bit of an edge remained to it because of the situation, “At Tyr’s Hand I trained to be the best, and my ability to adapt was my strong point. That’s why I was able to join the Scarlet Crusade.”

The veteran crusader leaned on one of the hallway's walls, crossing her arms over her chest as she seemed to grow an interest in the conversation beyond just dealing with a nuisance, “Adapting isn’t the same as belonging here.”

The vague response riled Jerid up, causing him to stand and quickly close the gap between them. No longer fighting, Lila did not resist him as Jerid grabbed her shoulder with one hand and forced her closer to the wall, “Tell me, why is that?”

“Right, let go of me,” she complained, though she did not knock him back like she was capable of doing. He stood a head taller than her at an impressive six feet and four inches, but she was the one truly in charge. His grip was not even that strong since he had no intention of actually hurting her, just pressuring her to actually answer him, “As long as you keep acting like a stupid brute you’ll never get anywhere.”

“Huh?" Jerid let go of her and held his hands out to the sides, palms facing up as he tried to defend his actions, "I don’t understand. I always act this way.”

Lila stepped forward and elbowed him in the ribs, forcing Jerid back a step as she chewed him out for his ignorance, “Now you’re getting on my nerves. You always do things in your own selfish way. Why don’t you try and learn to respect other people? If you try to treat me like those girls you go out with, then you’re going to end up regretting it.”

Jerid was stopped by the wall opposite the one she had been leaning on, and the narrow hallway left him still close to Lila despite her attempt to push him away.

Caught off guard by her accusation, Jerid found responding difficult, “I—I didn’t mean anything like that.”

Trixie wanted to laugh at how clueless the man seemed. He probably was as emotionally old as Vanessa was, if not less, whenever this memory took place. He was genuinely clueless, and it was almost endearing. Trixie imagined if she had a blood-sibling it might be something like this, since she was also quite clueless about things now and again on top of the personality similarities.

Sensing that he was being genuine, Lila stopped being verbally aggressive. Instead, she moved to pin Jerid against the wall with an arm over his shoulder, the man cowed by his previous defeats against her to even trying to physically react. Now in a position of physical dominance, Lila sought to get her point through to him since she had his full attention, “With each new partner, each new encounter, each new situation a different response is required of you.”

As she finished Lila stepped back, allowing Jerid to regain some of his comfort and then respond in a questioning manner once again.

“But I thought I’ve been always doing that.”

“That’s what you think. You look, but you don’t see,” Lila commented before turning to leave once again.

As Lila began to leave, a hint of anger made its way into Jerid's voice, “Are you saying that I’m a fool? Or that I can’t see?”

Without stopping, Lila turned her head slightly to talk to Jerid as she left him behind, “Yes to both. Otherwise you would have not lost in Tirisfal Glades to low level Forsaken.”

Once again not having a retort to his past failings or an excuse for them, Jerid looked down in frustration and quickly thought over something. Trixie observed him with interest as he went from surprise at being called a fool and mocked for his failure, to the frustrated thinking of a man not content with just leaving that be.

Trixie knew how she would respond to such a claim: try and outshine the critic and show them their place. So she expected as much from Jerid, leading to her surprise when he did precisely the opposite.

“Then tell me! I have to defeat them!”

Trixie balked. Was he...asking for help from the person calling him out and insulting not only his skill but intelligence? She suddenly felt much worse about herself if someone with a similar personality and a more brutish demeanor could bite that kind of bullet better than her...

Lila was also surprised, though part of it was because she was confused about why Jerid seemed so driven, “But why?”

“Because I—”

Jerid glanced back to the doorway the two of them had come out of, his face contorting in some anger as he was forced to cut himself off. Seeing that no-one was there, Jerid moved down the hallway to get in closer with Lila.

“I have my own goal. I plan to lead the Crusade one day. To do that, I’ll swallow my pride and do whatever you tell me.”

Lila smiled, showing that this was something she was both intrigued and pleased by, but the memory ended there as Jerid shook his head and the entire scene faded away.

“This again…” he looked back and forth at his hands and then the void around him, “Why isn’t this like a normal dream? Why was I thinking of Lila? Is she in trouble?”

His dream dispelled, his increasingly conscious mind began to try and fill in the blanks...namely, it put forth what was on Jerid's mind.

Trixie gasped as the void was replaced by a scene of a brown haired man being consumed by flame after first being stabbed from behind. The man was screaming in pain as his body was incinerated before him, with Jerid watching from the sidelines in complete horror.

“Kacricon!”

Trixie felt the same flash of power she had previously, the sudden switch that could be flipped and suddenly she felt her control of everything become contested by a surge of mana. Jerid looked around in anger in a desperate attempt to find the one responsible for his horrific nightmare. The scene did not end like the previous one, Jerid's preoccupation with the tragedy he had suffered causing it to play over and over as the blonde man began yelling out at the entire world around him.

“Who are you!? Who is doing this to me!?”

Despite the surge of mana, Trixie inserted some of her own to remain in control. Stability achieved, she then overrode the dreams being brought forth by the person's mind she was visiting, instead forcing the original state of darkness, like that of outer space, upon everything. Kacricon's burning form disappeared, and Jerid was left with nothing left to look at except Trixie herself.

Balling his fists up, Jerid's mental projection growled and prepared to leap at Trixie, “You…you’re that woman!”

Trixie did not move as Jerid sailed straight through her own projection. These were imagined things, not true bodies, and so in this non-corporeal state Trixie doubted much harm could be done. Perhaps if she had greater control she could have actual "physical" confrontations, but for now those were kept within dreams where the physicality was remembered rather than created.

As Jerid floated in the area behind Trixie in an awkward and weightless manner, Trixie saw fit to finally introduce herself, “My name is Trixie Lulamoon. I’m not here to hurt you,” she paused as Jerid caught and righted himself, “I’m sorry about your friend. If I had been conscious, I would have stopped him.”

Jerid's blue eyes sparkled as they grew wet with tears, his fists still balled up because of his anger, “Yeah right! That brat killed him without a second thought!”

Trixie paused as she thought about what he was saying. He was referring to Vanessa, and Trixie had recognized the weapons stabbing Kacricon's back as daggers...Trixie had been a bit out-of-it at the time, so she had not been a direct witness, but she was aware of it.

The death of someone in what was an attempt to save Kael and by extension everyone else. If Vanessa hadn't done that, they all could have died, and so Trixie had a difficult time blaming her...but for his friend, who had to see it happen in person? That made Trixie feel terrible. This reminded her of when Kael had "died" before time changed, and so she could not fault her enemy for being so furious.

What the killer of Edwin Vancleef was to Vanessa, Vanessa now was to Jerid.

“Vanessa isn’t evil at heart. She lost her father and has had a tremendous burden placed upon her shoulders,” Trixie half-heartedly said, understanding why Vanessa did it but also why someone could still be angry. Trixie approached Jerid where he stood and tried putting a hand on his shoulder, or at least pretended to do so since she could not actually touch him, “He meant a lot to you, didn’t he?”

Still furious, Jerid tried to swat her hand away and growled out, “Get out of my head!”

Realizing that there was little left for her to do since the entire dreamwalking process had broken down, Trixie decided to bow out before she inadvertently caused him any more harm.

“Lieutenant…”

Trixie regretted that the practice of her powers had brought him pain, but her mind was distracted also by something she had noticed about him.

He was self-absorbed. Smug. Kind of a jerk to those he didn’t know…but he cared about his goals, and he cared about his friends.

While less violent, Trixie had to say she saw some of herself in the enemy soldier who was somehow susceptible to her powers. He possessed a magic to him that she had sensed when she woke, one which greatly outweighed what he possessed before he was overcome with a drive for retribution. He was a different kind of Paladin than the more serene Mitter’meyer, though dangerous in his own right.

Perhaps, Trixie thought, if she had grown up differently, been born in a world of warfare and destruction, she would have taken to a path like the Lieutenant had…a path born of ambition, something she knew quite well. She wouldn't be at the Monastery if she did not know ambition.

She would use this dream power on Kael when this battle was over. She had to find answers, and now that she had practice doing it of her own volition it should prove easy enough.

What she would find though, Trixie was unsure of…and she was also not sure if she truly wanted to know.

In the real world only moments had passed by, and it felt to Trixie like she had only just shut her eyes by the time she opened them again.

Trixie jolted away from the unconscious man she had been next to. Jerid was severely wounded, possibly critically, and it reminded Trixie that there was more to tend to than just her own forces. She glanced back to see that the Grand Crusader was laying limply in one of the room's corners, where Kael's magic had blasted him back. He too might be dead, though given how powerful he had been Trixie doubted he would stay down.

Because of the personal need to save life, Trixie approached the Priest she had encountered on the road, Dirge. The man seemed gloomy after the battle, having spent his time kneeling by where his friend had died. No trace of Kacricon remained, but the sight had seared itself in Dirge's eyes and he remembered quite well the specific place it happened.

Since she hadn't been able to convey her sorrow well to Jerid, Trixie decided to give her condolences to the other man who appeared to be saddened by the loss.

"Dirge...I am sorry about your friend."

Possessing a calmer personality, Dirge accepted it even though it belonged to his enemy, "Thank you," he glanced over to Jerid and then to the others who had come as reinforcements, "And thank you for sparing my comrades. You did not need to do that, but you did...I guess it makes Kacricon dying all the more..."

Trixie nodded and put a hand on his shoulder like how she had kind of done with their friend, "We did not ever intend to kill anyone here, but it seems things got out of hand..."

Looking back over to the Grand Crusader, Trixie hoped it was not too late to save him as well. While he seemed like a bad man, and her head still kind of hurt from him hitting her, she didn't wish death upon him.

"Is he alive?"

"Just barely," a voice behind Trixie said, causing her to turn around. A woman wearing a face concealing hood was the one to have spoken, and something about them put Trixie off a bit.

Glad to hear that the Grand Crusader was alive, evidenced by him slightly moving, Trixie decided that the half-healer Dirge to tend to him while assigning the woman to do the rest of the healing, "Dirge, you heal him. You heal the others."

Dirge glumly went to do as told. He would be able to stabilize Dathrohan, Trixie believed, but not make him fully fit to fight, while Trixie bet this woman could heal a bit better than the man who admitted he was a healer, but it wasn't his main specialization.

Trixie had a sudden idea as the woman began to leave, though she fully doubted it would amount to anything, "Is it possible to...revive Lieutenant Kacricon?"

The Crusader turned to face Trixie, shaking her head and speaking in a sad tone, as if she expected to be asked something like this and was disappointed she could not give a different answer, "Some are powerful enough to revive the dead, but to preserve the original soul and life and not just animate the corpse is a power beyond what we possess. High Inquisitor Whitemane might be capable if there were a body, but she is fighting elsewhere."

This said, the woman walked over to the bleeding Jerid and began to heal his many wounds. She seemed to know the man, which given his propensity for being injured Trixie was not too surprised, and so handled him with familiarity and a friendliness of sorts.

"We will take care of the wounded. I and some others come from the time before the Crusade, leftovers absorbed into their campaign to remove the Undead, so you need not worry about me turning on you."

Something about the woman's voice seemed...familiar. Trixie narrowed her eyes and tried to figure it out, but not being able to see their face kept her from being able to complete the mystery.

"Do I...know you?"

She was curious, but Trixie had a duty to carry out so she could protect the others. Ignoring her would be inquiry, Trixie began setting things back on track.

“Karl, you and Tony go and handle the gate. Slip by their forces while we make enough of a racket to draw their attention.”

The brothers accepted their assignment, though they waited by the doors leading out to the courtyard due to a heavy enemy presence gathering there.

"The Courtyard is filled with soldiers..." Trixie murmured as she joined the two brothers along with Kael, Lavitz, and Vanessa.

"Kael, you know how to ride a horse well enough, right?"

Kael gave Trixie a sideways glance, not sure what she was getting at.

"Yes, but why—"

Trixie stepped forward and removed something from her bags she had not needed for some time now: pepper.

"Outside we have an advantage they do not: not one of them can keep up with me, the poor bipeds."

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

Trixie shook her head and spoke in a resolute tone, "We are ending this before any more die. I will triumph over the quest placed before us, and I will do so in a way that is told about across the world. We will take them out with speed and cunning, as we do not have their strength."

Stepping out of the Cathredral and into the light of the courtyard, Trixie inhaled and then let out a mighty bellow.

"I am the Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon! This Monastery is now under my control, and any who disagree may come and face me!"

Her challenge issued, she breathed in the pepper she had in her hand.

With Kael on her back and with her speed, what chance did they have? Trixie would trample anyone in her way and Kael would blast any threats with his magic. All they had to do was try and not kill their foes, as Trixie did not wish to inflict any more tragedy into the world.

She had lived through someone else's nightmare just moments ago. She wasn't going to force others into such a fate if she could help it.

Author's Note

I'd be impressed if people caught all of my subtle foreshadowing in this chapter. There was quite a bit of it in fact. Nothing really out of the blue, but there nonetheless.

Levels 28-29: The Crusade Strikes Back

A/N: Special thanks to Amethyst Blade, ShadeTail, the other sans, Housecarl of Clan Drops, and Redwolf777sg for your comments last time, and I hope to hear from you again! Was kind of hoping to hear from more of you all, since only three of you actually commented on the chapter itself...well, anyways, the more I hear from you all, the sooner I can finish the next chapter! It really does help me out, since the more I interact with the story the more I think about it and can write for it, so do know your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

I hope you all will enjoy, and that I will hear from you in the comments below!

The courtyard by the chapel had two levels, each of which were similar in size and were what some may even call a field. Stairs to the right and left led up to it, while a stream of water in the middle caused a light waterfall from the immense height difference of the two levels. Surrounding the fields were the Monastery’s walls, and this was only one piece of one-fourth the entire structure, showing just how massive the fortress was.

Trixie still intended to take it with as close to zero fatalities as possible, despite everything that could possibly stand in her way.

Taking a look out at the fields, Trixie could see that the forces that had previously been training there were all focused on her. She smiled to herself as she was suddenly the center of attention.

Now it was time to put on the show.

“It was so nice of you all to wait outside for us,” Trixie mocked, taking note of how these fools had seemingly assumed their commander was going to mop the floor with them and did not intervene like the troops Kacricon brought in. Some of those had come from those stationed outside, and Trixie could see that the Scarlet Crusade’s base forces were truly stretching thin now: she counted only two dozen people in sight from her position at the cathedral.

“Did…did that horse just talk?”

Trixie snickered as Kael climbed up on her back and took hold of the purple cape covering her back. The Crusaders had no idea what they were in for.

“Where did that boastful woman go?”

“I heard her voice come out of the horse’s mouth!”

Trixie gave them no more time to voice their confusion as she raced forward, Kael gripping tightly to her as he began muttering something under his breath. A group of what appeared to be bare fisted soldiers, monks possibly, found themselves trampled by the sudden arrival of a horse, and those who threw themselves out of Trixie’s path were instead introduced to searing pain.

One of the soldiers on the field scoffed at the sight of Kael flinging fire at the Crusaders trying to flee from Trixie’s charge, “Spellcasting on a mount? Unheard of! Coward!”

Trixie changed her path so that she could run over another group of Crusaders, lowering her head to bare her horn at them: if they knew what was best for them, they would see it and get out of the way, leaving them vulnerable to Kael. The fact that those stationed on the field were melee combatants left them vulnerable to the rapid speed Trixie was running at: They could not catch her, and they could not accurately aim at her. Despite her large size their weapons would swing right by her instead of making contact, and so a second grouping of Crusaders fell to Trixie and Kael’s combination attack.

By the time they began to engage a third grouping of soldiers, the Crusaders were wising up. Suicidally charging forward instead of away, they forced Trixie to avert her path so as to not be impaled by the weapons this group had been training with. Her sudden change in path nearly threw Kael off her, making his next fireball go astray and harmlessly impact a wall of the monastery instead of their enemies.

“Aim better!” Trixie chastised as she ran past the Crusaders and prepared to loop around to try again.

“Well quit moving so much and I will!” Kael complained as he prepared another spell. When he was next to Trixie he felt empowered, and when she was in this equine form he felt the effect increase significantly.

Trixie noticed the power she possessed in this body was greater as well, and it reminded her of something from her dream. Trying her best to focus on the horn atop her head, Trixie called out to her rider.

“I’mma try something!”

Pointing her horn down towards the feet of the Crusaders, Trixie let out some of the magic energy she felt flowing through her. The result was an explosion that sent them all careening into the air in different directions.

Realizing the power she had, Trixie smirked to herself as she began turning so as to not collide into a wall. Knowing she could do that meant she could practice it later and actually utilize her powers to a more precise extent.

The remaining soldiers on that level spaced out to not fall victim to another devastating attack like that, and Trixie could see them beginning to summon glowing auras that she instinctively felt would shield them should she try to strike them.

Then the ranged attacks began: some Priests had been out in the field as well, and Trixie jolted to the side as she saw an incoming bolt of holy energy. With the shielded soldiers standing in front of their Priest companions, Trixie realized that they were now trying to pick at her from afar. Their movements were such that they would surround her if she did not do something, so Trixie decided to try something.

She took towards one staircase and leapt onto the stone that sloped down with it instead of the steps themselves. To her left was a long drop to the bottom of the pool/waterfall, and to her right the steps, but Trixie ignored the height she was at to instead begin racing down.

The soldiers now behind her began to give chase and run down the steps as she rushed down the smooth stone. At the bottom more Crusaders were already waiting for her, but Trixie was prepared for that.

Kael had to grab on to Trixie’s neck with both arms at the moment they reached the bottom of the staircase, for Trixie leapt high into the air so as to sail straight over the forces waiting to corner her.

Once they landed, Trixie wasted no time to then run across the open field, given that every single soldier on the bottom floor had been waiting by the stairs for her. With a suggestion from the winded Kael, Trixie took towards the other staircase and wanted to laugh as the soldiers angrily gave chase after her.

By the time she reached the top, the soldiers from the bottom level were just reaching the bottom of the steps. The soldiers who had been running down after her from the top level were just reaching the bottom of those steps…and thus her strategy was brought to bare.

Able to outpace the soldiers by a great deal, Trixie began to run around again and again, gaining more of a lead on them as they grew slower and slower with exertion, their armor weighing more heavily on them than Kael’s wore down on Trixie.

The true reason for Trixie’s seemingly cowardly action of running away was not that she was escaping: she was trying to catch up to their rear, where the Priests were. They were wearing dresses like she mocked Kael for wearing, robes if she were to be honest, and so they were not able to run nearly as fast as the men trained to run in armor. The cloth entangled with their legs as they ran, and so they were left behind in a cluster as their Paladin and Warrior cohorts tried to catch Trixie ahead of them.

When Trixie managed to spring her plan into action, the Priests were a hundred yards away from their comrades, tiredly standing by one staircase as they tried to catch their breath. Using her equine mobility Trixie closed the distance on them in a burst of speed, and the Priests found themselves being fired at by both Trixie and Kael in tandem, with Trixie pausing her charge a few yards away from them so they could accurately aim.

By the time the Paladins and Warriors returned to help their comrades, the Priests were all in no state to fight anymore. As they had charged Trixie had picked off with her magic a few of the Paladins, and Kael had lit some of the Warriors on fire, melting away their armor and making them cast it aside before passing out from their wounds, leaving only a handful left to actually fight.

Due to all of the exertions she had made in the past hour, Trixie could not fire anymore at them without first taking a break, and she did not have the time for that. Kael too was beginning to grow tired again and could not spark another fire to fling at them, so Trixie decided to throw her remaining energy into one last charge.

“Hold on!”

Kael did as he was told as Trixie threw them both into a curving trajectory, aiming to sweep into the arc of soldiers approaching them. The soldiers had lost the glowing shield they had been protecting themselves with earlier, likely due to a strain of keeping it up so long, and so Trixie plowed through them as well, each of them too exhausted to get out of her way.

The last in the group was by far the most tired of them though, and he fell down as Trixie aimed to tackle him. His dulled blade collided with one of her front legs and Trixie was thrown off balance due to her attempt to leap into him.

She would have had time to recover if she had been running towards an open field, but her curved movement had taken her in the path of the pool. Trixie nearly gasped by the time she continued her trip into the edge of it, her hooves catching on it and causing her to flip over it as she tried to suddenly halt herself as she stumbled. Kael continued to grip onto Trixie for death life while Trixie flipped into the pool.

Trixie shook her head and tried getting up in the pool only to realize that she was not on four legs anymore. Looking down, Trixie saw that she had reverted back to her Elven form, and her purple cape was now drenched around her, clinging to her skin.

Also quite drenched by his own tumble into the pool, Kael emerged from underneath the large purple fabric Trixie had been wearing to hand her one of their bags. He was blushing as Trixie took the bag, refusing to meet her eyes.

“Your clothes,” he explained, and Trixie nodded in understanding. She quickly went about fixing her clothing problem underneath her large cape, and when she finally emerged she saw that Lavitz and Vanessa were waiting by the edge of the pool. Trixie tossed her drenched cape to Kael, who went about wringing it of water and putting it away.

Vanessa cocked an eyebrow at the soaking duo. They had let Trixie handle things since it would have been difficult to interfere in the unique scenario, so they had not seen how Trixie managed to crash, “How did you two end up in the pool?”

Not even looking up at them anymore, Trixie tried to get some of the water out of her clothing as she responded in a deadpan voice, “Kael was riding me and now I’m wet.”

Vanessa blushed, Lavitz burst out in laughter, and Kael just hung his head and began to slowly shake it side to side, “Trixie…”

As she looked to Kael Trixie mimicked Vanessa’s recent expression of one eyebrow raised, “What? All that thrashing around hurts my back you know. You try being on bottom next time.”

Lavitz nearly fell over in laughter as Kael threw his hands up in exasperation. Did Trixie have no self-awareness about how anything she said sounded?

“Oh come on, it's like you're not even trying!”

Ignoring Kael and masking a smirk, Trixie turned to Vanessa and pointed towards the exit to the courtyard.

“Vanessa, get any stragglers. Don’t let them alert other forces, as we don’t want to fight them when they are completely ready for us.”

Vanessa pulled out her daggers and eyed up someone whose legs had not been broken by Trixie’s trampling rampage and who was trying to stumble into the hallway leading to the field.

“On it.”

The teenager left the three others, and after a moment Trixie turned to see Kael still hanging his head in shame.

“What? I got you dripping as well, so we’re even. I’ll make you dry later as an apology if you really want one.”

It would be a little while before they could continue on, as Kael said he needed a moment to calm down, and Lavitz definitely needed one to stop his near choking level of laughter.

Standing over the unconscious bodies of a dozen soldiers and bankers, the thief brothers hired by Trixie were beginning to open the locks to the safes in the building. They had known how to exactly get to this position in as efficient a way as possible, having already been planning on raiding the Crusade themselves, so all these other factors just made it easier for them.

Still, they were only two people, and so going about picking every lock took a long time. Tony sighed as he worked on the one before him, “Vhere are Chains or Dollas vhen you need them? Even Hox would be a welcome addition…”

Karl sighed as he ripped a safe open, “I miss Hans.”

Tony nodded. A friend of theirs, the one who had planned previous heists for them, had passed away recently due to illness. Hans Rickman was a superb mastermind and actor, able to trick their marks like few others, and so the two had been lost for some time after his passing. Now they had a new crew of sorts, one which was not amoral like them but still quite effective at its goals.

“Yes. Rickman was good man…”

Tony’s reminiscence was cut short as he realized Karl had lost his temper with just picking locks, and decided to pull out something from the bag he brought to the Monastery.

That something was a saw, like the Goblins liked using so much in their clear-cutting of forests.

Karl began slashing into the safety deposit boxes and other safes as Tony was finishing the one he was working on.

“Stop! Stop!” he called out to his impatient brother, though he was unsuccessful at stopping him. A saw could draw unwanted attention from any remaining patrols, which was why Tony was aversive to his brother using it.

Thinking quickly, Tony grabbed something from his bag and tossed it at one of the entranceways. The flashbang went off and blinded a group of Crusaders who had reacted to Karl’s noise, and by the time they recovered from the blinding light Karl had shot them dead with some aid from Tony.

Karl smiled down to his younger brother, having intentionally messed with him since they were brothers after all, but Tony gave him an angry look. He was used to pranks and the like, but this was really not the time for that.

They finished breaking open everything and taking the valuables within. They could easily try and leave with them, but they had honor to them despite being thieves and so they decided to help finish the operation. Perhaps they could get some magic artifacts as well to add to their overall haul.

Tony put on his headset again, the brothers having taken theirs off when the sound of a horse began coming over it for some reason, and pointed for his brother to start going on his way. He had heard something about Vanessa hunting stragglers, and since being muscle was Karl’s specialty that was what he should be helping with at the moment.

“I’ll get the gate. Help girl.”

Karl nodded and left his brother behind to finish packing everything. Tony had many storage bags on him with high capacity, so he was able to loot everything and not feel the weight at all due to the magical properties of his bags. With this they would be set for life, able to live off it without ever possibly spending it all.

With his technical knowledge, Tony was to secure the gate and keep anyone else from interfering further. Few if any enemies remained there, so he felt confident that he would be able to handle it on his own.

Karl came across the girl who had joined the team partway through when she was interrogating a man who had escaped from the battle and attempted to take refuge in a room off the main path. She had poisoned him lightly, enough to cause excruciating pain but not kill him, and was lightly dragging her dagger across his body to make him talk.

The mercenary nodded as he watched, announcing his presence with a quiet, “Impressive.”

Vanessa looked back at the Human who greatly resembled Kael, “Thanks,” she sighed as she turned back to her prisoner who was being less than cooperative. They needed some more information to carry this out well, and since Trixie wasn’t around to see this brutality Vanessa felt free to act like the criminal she had grown to be over the years, “What do you want to bet he won’t talk?”

Karl took out a gold piece and placed it down on a table in the room, placing his wager, “He’ll talk.”

Not about to go easy to win a bet, Vanessa continued to try and force information out of the screaming Crusader, “Where are the other remaining officers in the base? Where are the keys to the armory and other major facilities?”

If they did not account for a single major figure, if they were caught off guard by some major force, they all could die. Vanessa refused to let herself die here after all she had been through, and she would do everything in her power to not lose anyone else she cared about either…which now meant Trixie, as well as Kael and Lavitz to some degree. Now Karl was also growing to be someone she respected, since he wasn’t judging her for her actions that were born of desperation.

The tortured Crusader whined as Vanessa continued to try and press information out of him, “I don’t know! I don’t know! Please!”

Realizing this would go nowhere, Vanessa knocked the man out to shut up his screaming. Karl cursed under his breath as he handed over the gold piece he bet, which made Vanessa realize he had bet on her winning.

“Why’d you think he would talk?”

Karl shrugged as he leant on the doorway, “I fought your father vunce. SI-7 and Defias do not get along vell, but he vas quite skilled.”

Vanessa nodded in understanding. Because he knew her father, he expected her to be at least capable…and seeing as how he wasn’t sneering, she could tell that he wasn’t disappointed in her.

The mercenary shrugged as Vanessa took another look at the passed out Crusader, “Some just don’t talk, so not your fault.”

“Thanks…” Vanessa sighed, knowing the man was right but also irritated that she had to try this again, “Let’s see if someone else will.”

On their way through the Scarlet Monastery, Trixie made a decision about where to go next. There were still a few areas to clear of hostile forces before the area could be considered “locked down”, and unless they were in control of it they would not have fulfilled the task given to them by Lord Wrynn. Well, the younger Wrynn now that Chromie fixed the timeline a bit.

“Let’s check the graveyard. The armory will be difficult to take I reckon, so we shouldn’t go there while we’re this tired. I doubt many forces will be at the Graveyard at this time, so it’ll be a nice break of sorts,” Trixie paused as she realized something, though she had no idea just how correct she was as she added, “They really were weak at the courtyard…it’s almost as if they wanted this to happen.”

Kael and Lavitz both shrugged, both just grateful that things were going their way. Given that both Trixie and Kael were recovering from the last fight there was not much said as they strode through the dimly lit halls of the Monastery. Whoever was in charge of replacing the torches and lighting things was probably ill, since Trixie had trouble seeing in some parts of it. Irritated by a lack of sight, Trixie decided to focus on something else: playing the role of leader again. She took to using her headset provided by Tony and opened communications with its inventor.

“Tony, how’s it going on your end with the money and gate?”

“Money and Gate have been taken care of. Where should I meet—”

Trixie lurched as she heard a loud crackle in her ear. She could not hear anything from Tony, but heard what sounded like fighting in the background.

The three walking to the Graveyard finally found the location, but before heading into that section of the Monastery Trixie paused to try and regain contact with the tech guy of their operation.

“Tony?” Trixie’s face paled as he continued to not respond, “Tony? Are you alright?”

Her eyes shot open when right after saying this an unfamiliar voice spoke, a sinister smugness dripping from it.

“Sorry about that. Tony won’t be joining you for the few remaining minutes of your lives, as I am afraid he has gone and broken his neck,” the man speaking laughed with clear sadism, “My name is Mograine though, and I must thank you insurgents for the crossbow. I’ll be sure to return it one way or another.”

“Trixie…” Kael whispered, drawing her attention even as she began to process what she just heard.

At the entrance of the Graveyard were not Scarlet Crusaders, but rather a few Scarlet Crusaders fighting off a slew of rotting corpses that were somehow brought to life.

“Undead,” Lavitz cursed, “Not Forsaken, but not quite alive nor dead…”

Kael balled his fists in anger, “Great. So the base we happen to take over has to be infested in one wing with the undead…”

Trixie removed her headset and turned it off, not wanting to let Mograine listen in on their conversation. If he had Tony’s headset, he could easily hunt them down with knowledge like that, and if her memory served her correctly he was one of the leaders of the facility: he would know better about how to traverse it, and he would be a powerful warrior beyond many of the others in fighting capabilities.

“Let me help you.”

Trixie, Kael, and Lavitz turned around to see a familiar face behind them: the healer from before, Dirge. He had followed them after tending to the wounded, able to catch up solely because of their slow pace and his own knowledge of the base.

Lavitz leveled his spear at the man, intent on protecting his charges, but Dirge held his hands up in peace, “Healing harms the Undead severely. Please, let me repay you for sparing my allies before.”

Trixie used an arm to lower Lavitz’s spear, trusting the Priest because of his reasoning as well as her experiences thus far with him.

“Okay then. We clear these zombies out as quickly as possible, then we find Mograine.”

Leaving zombies to run wild in the facility would be bad, and Trixie doubted the Crusade members fighting them here could hold them off much longer with how poorly defended the entire facility seemed to be. With their forces diverted to a large offensive campaign, their base’s defense garrison off chasing a phantom opponent, many of those within the walls poisoned, and further forces defeated by Trixie and the others, the Scarlet Crusade was truly in a terrible position.

Kael brandished his sword and Lavitz prepared his spear and both lunged forward into the horde of undead that only just seemed to notice their existence. They began to cut into the first of the zombies when a voice behind the masses of rotting flesh cried out.

“We hunger for vengeance!”

Lavitz threw himself to the side to avoid a pillar of flame that began to burn where he had just stood, and the four fighters all looked to see a larger undead with the features of a black armored Elf standing with glowing hands and eyes, a cape billowing behind them.

Things suddenly were not looking as great as they were mere moments ago, and things had not exactly been rosy then either. However, even the might of the small army of undead paled in comparison to the utterly furious woman standing next to Kael.

Someone working for her had just died, and these creatures were keeping her from avenging that death...

Bloodmage Thalnos, the undead mage, would soon regret attacking these mortals as carelessly as the others.

After tracking down keys and information from various Crusaders, Vanessa and Karl had gone to meet up with the others when they heard a group of Crusaders talking about how surprised they were that they had to be called back to defend the base. Since these ones were not a part of the initial defense, that meant that despite the gate having been closed they still got inside.

Vanessa whispered to Karl as they approached the hallway the reinforcements were in, “They must have snuck in through a hidden entrance. I’ll stall them.”

Karl nodded and left, trusting Vanessa to do as she said. Now alone with a half dozen Crusaders, Vanessa began listening in on them so she could plan her attack.

One of the members had just returned to the group and seemed fearfully excited, “Lieutenant! The Monastery’s forces are nearly all deployed in the field, and many of those here have been defeated by the invading force!”

The Lieutenant, a woman with sandy blonde hair and salmon red armor, snarled as she realized the position her army was in, “What about Lieutenants Jerid and Kacricon?”

“I can answer that!”

Having studied their positions and planned her attack, Vanessa launched herself out of her cover and impaled the messenger in the back before kicking him aside and starting on a nearby member.

The Lieutenant jumped into action and kept Vanessa from taking out another of her soldiers, but the suddenness still caught her off guard, as did the age of the assailant.

“What’s a kid doing here?”

Vanessa snorted as she parried Lila’s counterattack, “I had to kill Kacricon to save someone, but that fool Jerid is one of our hostages.”

Vanessa actually found herself driven back as her foe’s eyes lit up first in surprise and then in anger.

Lila pressed the offensive in the opening Vanessa gave her by backing up, “You’ll pay for that! You may be a kid, but I won’t stand and let you harm my soldiers!”

She would die before she let some arrogant teenager harm anyone else she cared about, and Lila felt a surge of emotion as she felt the danger her student was in. Jerid could die if she didn’t do anything, or at least she thought so, not knowing that her foes were doing their best not to kill anyone.

She did not even notice that her allies who Vanessa had already attacked were still alive, so enraged by the death of a student and friend as well as by the danger the rookie Crusader who had fallen for her was in.

Vanessa’s taunt had had its effect: Lila was not thinking rationally, which meant that even someone a decade younger could fight the veteran on equal ground. Mixed with a slight unwillingness to fight a child, and a leftover disturbed sensation from seeing Mograine act so brutally in the village earlier, the tables went from even to fully in Vanessa’s favor in their one on one combat.

Fortunately, Lila had a few allies with her still to tip things again in her own favor, but a brutal conflict between them was just beginning...and with one side willing to fight it to the death, much hung in the balance.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed and will grace me with your comments below! I could still use them to make it through yet another tough week, and they really do help me keep releasing chapters for you all on a regular basis.

Level 30: There Is More Than One Side To Battle

A/N: Very special thanks to the other sans, GamerGoddessDin, Doctorfoxwolf, Freya, somerandomperson, Gulvar, AdmiralPopeyesBeard, InsanityStreak, nioniosbbbb, and Mister E for all your comments since last time! They are very much appreciated, and it'd have been almost another week before I could muster the strength to write if you all hadn't supported me so much. I managed to find the time because of you, so I am very grateful and hope to continue hearing from you all!

If, by any chance, you feel bad for a couple of our villains in this chapter, do know that it is completely normal and Human to feel that way. I mean, Jerid's a bit of a jerk-jock and Lila likes fighting in wars, but in every battle there are two sides: we know why we're rooting for Trixie's team, but that doesn't mean everyone they fight is 100% complete evil. The Scarlet Crusade are bad guys though...but among them Humanity can be found. Both the good and bad of it.

I hope you all enjoy, and I look forward to hearing from you in the comments below!

In Silvermoon City, standing in the inner sanctum of the government’s main facility, the Ranger-General in charge of the city was having a fit.

"They did what!?"

Lor’themar Theron slammed his hands down on a table that had a map laid across it. He grabbed some soldiers symbolizing the garrison of Silvermoon and tossed them aside.

Glaring at the messenger, the stressed leader of Silvermoon growled, "On whose orders!?"

The answer was another statement Lor’Themar did not wish to hear, but one he could not do anything about at the moment. Taking in a deep breath, the one eyed man took a seat and waved away the attendant who had brought him the urgent and confidential information.

Once he was alone, Lor’themar sighed and tried to think things over. What possible reason could be behind such treason?

“Sylvanas is on her way…will she deal with them? Perhaps this will fix Jaronis’s blunder and mess…”

Plotting nobles, rebellious soldiers, and an uneasy populace...Lor’themar longed for the simple life of a soldier he once had.

Mograine found himself suffering from a severe, piercing headache as he looked upon the Scarlet Crusade forces within the Cathedral.

Every single person was tied up with rope brought by Tony and Karl for the operation, with it being of a quality that would not be easily cut and unbound. Not only that, many had been stripped down to their underwear, and he had passed their snapped weapons when he was outside where the Crusaders were strewn about as well.

While Trixie and Kael had been handling the forces in the inner courtyard, Lavitz, Vanessa, Karl, and Tony had dealt with their already defeated foes in a manner that would keep them from being much of a threat in the near future, even if they recovered from being rendered unconscious in time to rejoin the battle. In addition, Vanessa had poisoned the vast majority of them with a sleep rendering poison she had saved, though she did not possess enough for every last one.

"Defeated and looted. Pathetic," Mograine muttered as he looked around the room where soldiers and priests both were displayed mockingly in defeat atop scorched tiling.

"Commander Mograine..."

The high ranked Crusader turned towards the voice to see one of the only Crusaders still clothed trying to stand and salute him. The man was one Mograine recognized if only because of his failure in a recent mission to defeat fresh, in-training Forsaken and how the senior Lieutenant Lila Rira stood up for him against Mograine when Mograine sought to punish him.

Mograine sneered at his subordinate as Jerid tried to stand in his bloodstained armor and robes. The white cloth on the man’s outfit had been tainted red, but seeing as Jerid had not died from blood loss Mograine was willing to bet that he had been healed, "Lieutenant Messa. You're looking well."

The Lieutenant bowed his head as he somehow managed to pull himself to his feet despite the agony he felt in his body. He had been healed enough to survive, but he still felt every ounce of the agony he had been in when defeated by Vanessa. He knew he had failed his faction though, and he was willing to accept the blame that called for.

"I accept my failure, sir. Permission to deploy and regain my honor, sir?"

That earned a scoff from his superior, who punched Jerid across the cheek and knocked the already off-balance man off his feet.

As Jerid crashed onto the ground in his armor Mograine clenched the fist he had used to strike him, "You'll have to prove yourself before you worry about your honor. To be defeated by such a small force is disgraceful. You all have brought dishonor to the entire Crusade today."

Jerid crawled into a kneeling position, accepting the physical reprimand as his punishment for being defeated by a child. Despite having lost though, Jerid was not about to let the record show that those fighting had been defeated by simple invaders...no, they were attacked by someone whose mere aura had been able to incinerate Kacricon in an agonizing fashion.

"They're led by Kael'thas Sunstrider, sir."

Jerid saw the next strike coming because Mograine swapped hands on his mace to swing it at his subordinate, the mace brutally knocking Jerid down once again, "I don't need excuses from you. Lieutenant Lila isn't here to protect you from your mistakes."

"Sir..." Jerid replied as he tried to get up again, only to find it near impossible with the pain he was in.

Ignoring his wounded comrade, Mograine approached the form of someone else he recognized in the room: Grand Crusader Dathrohan. The man’s armor was charred, his body immobile, and from what he could see the Crusade leader had been stripped of whatever valuables he had on him.

"Even the Grand Crusader fell?" the sight irritated Mograine, but the fact that he could feel a faint trace of magical power emanating from what otherwise appeared to be a corpse eased Mograine’s mood, "I sense energy coming from him, so he likely just needs time to come to."

He could heal the man using the power known as Lay on Hands, which imbued someone with healing magic equal to the user’s own limit, but he did not see why he ought to. A Paladin could use the power of the Light as they saw fit: Protection of one’s allies, as Mitter’meyer would with the power and haste it could imbue their bodies with. Retribution, as Jerid sought to in vengeance for his comrades, throwing mastery of the Light’s offensive powers and smiting one’s enemies. The last major way was through its holy magic, restoring one’s comrades to full health with a similar way of using the Light as a Priest would.

Those were for Paladins who would use their powers on behalf of others: such labels were not befitting of a man such as Mograine, who took the Light’s power for himself and wielded it only for himself. As such, he was fine leaving his superior to rot on the ground as he went and claimed all the glory for himself even though it would be wiser to be a team player.

Taking this further, Mograine knelt down beside the man and began to work his way through the man’s pockets to look for powerful artifacts not taken by the thieves, "In the meantime, I will use what little they left him to defeat the dissidents."

He paused as he noticed a sickly, neon green orb in the Grand Crusader’s unmolested bag, "A scrying orb..." he nodded to himself, pleased with what he obtained, "I did not know the Grand Crusader had such powerful trinkets."

Jerid had managed to drag himself to his feet once again and approached Mograine as the man was working through their superior’s pockets. Jerid didn’t care that Dathrohan was “donating” his treasures for their use, it was his own fault for being defeated, and he also did not care that Mograine may bring his anger out on him again. He was driven to redeem himself, but first and foremost he wanted to see the invaders pay...especially that girl, Vanessa, who caused Kacricon’s horrible death.

"The Armory and Library remain untouched..." Mograine said to himself as he used the glowing orb before him to project a view of other areas in the Monastery. Eventually one image showed the invading group confronting the Undead forces that were disrupting the graveyard, "They are still at the Graveyard, but I doubt they will be for long."

He acknowledged that the Lieutenant had limped to the area behind him and could see the images as well, and even though he was irritated by Jerid’s failure he had to admit he was capable of a warrior’s perseverance.

Scanning through other zones of the Monastery, Mograine eventually came upon the Crusaders who had arrived just behind him. They were engaged in combat with a single woman, who was managing to continually swap foes to keep them at bay in an experienced manner that belied combat exposure far beyond what one of her age should have, "Our veteran reinforcements are being held up by a single enemy. A teenager no less. I think discipline will be called for after today's disgrace."

Jerid gasped as he recognized the red and salmon red armor of one of the soldiers fighting, as well as how close the battle was between the two sides.

"Lila!" ignoring his pain, Jerid stepped forward so as to be beside his commander, "Sir, send reinforcements!"

Mograine smirked. He could very well reinforce Lila’s group with some of the less wounded outside, it would only take a moment to heal them after all, but this was his moment. He would not share it, and he would not give aid to those who were incapable of helping themselves against a single foe.

"I could, but I don't think I will," he glanced over to Jerid and sneered at him once again, "Think of this as a lesson, Lieutenant. To become a better officer, one must always be in control of their emotions."

Jerid’s face turned to distress as he realized just how poorly Lila was fighting as compared to usual. She was a cerebral fighter whose ability to think through battles made her the perfect teacher for the impulsive Jerid. Her helmet had been knocked aside and it was easy to read on her face that she was distracted, and her wild swings showed that for some reason she was not thinking this particular battle through. The fact that she was fighting against Vanessa caused Jerid further stress, as he had been defeated by the teenager and he knew first hand her strength. Lila was the only one still managing to hold her own, with some of her allies almost appearing to get in the way rather than contribute, but the situation seemed like it could go either way as it currently stood.

Mograine laughed as he watched Lila’s squad continue to engage Vanessa, "The Lieutenant does not seem like she is doing just that, and you'll have your throat cut if you even try to hobble into battle."

Jerid bit his lip and clenched his fist at his side. He couldn’t help them in his condition, and with Kacricon dead he didn’t have someone who would help him or heal him as he was.

"Lila..."

On the other side of the looking glass, Lila had an attack parried and then diverted by her foe while Vanessa used her other hand to punch another Crusader in the throat. Of those that Lila had with her originally, four were still standing and that number soon would be three as Vanessa slashed her blade down on the man with the same arm she had used to strike him. The others were in barely better conditions, having been partially crippled by Vanessa in each strike she threw at them.

Lila continued her momentum from her swing at Vanessa and spun around as her blade-locked sword shifted Vanessa’s main dagger to drop the teenager’s guard, but the girl suddenly dropped down in height by arching her back and bending her knees so that in a display of flexibility the Paladin’s blade sailed over her.

Already low to the ground, Vannessa threw her hands to the floor to take her weight onto them. Lila managed to move one leg back far enough to avoid a sudden kick that was aimed at each of her knees, while her other was protected enough by her armor to not make the strike incapacitating but still do damage to the joint within her armor.

Vanessa finished dropping to the ground to roll out of the way of one of Lila’s allies who tried to enter into the fight once again, their sword clanging after it struck the hard floor instead of Vanessa’s soft flesh. Vanessa finished her roll in a kneeling position, from which she leapt at the man and slashed at an exposed joint on his arm.

Another one of Lila’s comrades rushed forward, getting in the way of Lila herself, as the woman finished catching her breath and fighting past the pain in her knee, "What are you doing here, kid? This isn’t a game!"

What unnerved Lila about her opponent was how skilled this teenager seemed to be despite her age. How could someone that young fight so well? Strike with such precision?

Vanessa slashed both daggers across her one opponent’s arm to disable it before twirling around and slipping past the other’s attack, elbowing him on the back of his neck, “Saving someone’s life who saved mine!”

Lila moved to attack the moment her two allies were shoved out of the way by Vanessa, her sword ending up caught between Vanessa’s daggers, “And to do that you’d kill others?”

Vanessa pushed outwards and scissored her daggers so that they were still holding Lila’s blade but also now pointing right at the person she was facing, “You’re not one to talk! I may lead a criminal organization, but you Crusaders are the ones who target innocents! You kill the Forsaken like they’re regular Undead!”

Beginning to feel herself get pushed back by the teenager who was the same height as her, Lila called down a holy bolt to strike at Vanessa. She tried to dodge it, but it still grazed Vanessa’s lower bod because of the random angle it came in from. With this slightly putting Vanessa off the offensive, Lila wrenched one distracted arm of Vanessa’s down and threw her shoulder down to charge Vanessa, lunging in at her, “You didn’t have to fight in the war, kid! You don’t know what they are capable of!”

Vanessa threw herself to the side so that Lila slipped right past her, possessing just enough agility to dodge the hit and the physical dexterity to not fall over afterwards, “What about all the villages the Crusade has burnt to the ground?” Vanessa used the moment to put space in-between them, “The innocent Humans they’ve killed!?”

Lila stopped her charge to twist around and look at where her opponent had gotten to, finding Vanessa in close ranged combat with one of the other Crusaders, her daggers cutting into the openings in the shoulders where the shoulder armor met the armor of the arms as he cried in agony.

The fact that Vanessa was specifically trying to not kill them was lost on Lila as she gawked at what Vanessa said. She had not heard about that, but the way Vanessa spat it out it almost sounded like she was telling the truth...

“What?”

Vanessa grabbed her current opponent by the chin and forced his head back, the pain and pressure on his neck forcing him to relax his guard, “I passed by one on the way here…” she gripped his helmet to forcefully twist and throw him by it into a nearby wall, “You people are harming your own race to accomplish your military objectives! Why protect a town when you can more easily burn it to the ground!?”

Lila paused as she felt her arms shaking. She had joined the Crusade to save innocent lives...to save the Human race against the many outside threats that were posed to it...to not simply abide the Undead plague upon the northern side of the continent, where they ravaged villages and slaughtered children before taking their corpses and transforming them into hideous abominations that would make trained soldiers wretch at the sight of.

The thought that her own organization could do something like what Vanessa was saying…

Lila shook her head and prepared to attack again. For all she knew, the kid was lying, and she still needed to avenge her comrade. She needed to protect the Monastery.

She needed to protect that stupid rookie who had asked her out on a date when she got back.

To do that, she would fight with everything she had. It didn’t matter if her opponent was unlike any other child combatant she had come across. While she had reservations about attacking a child, the fact that they had admitted to murdering Kacricon made Lila willing to spill their blood, for they were no normal kid by any measure.

"I don't care if you're some prodigy, if you fight I'll take you down!"

Vanessa tore her daggers out of another Crusader just in time to move out of the way of Lila’s next vicious assault, the years of warfare and personal combat Lila had experienced coming out in her furious attack.

"More souls!"

The Undead Mage that was assaulting Trixie’s group with a hail of fireballs was making an immense display of their power, for the entrance to the facility’s graveyard was beginning to resemble the area Kael’s power had previous scorched as each missed strike left its horrific mark. One fireball found its mark on Lavitz as he parried a flurry of strikes from the Undead horde that then numbered about thirty beings as more and more made their way out of the ground to replace those who had been defeated.

Lavitz gasped in pain as the fire seared through his armor, but as soon as he felt the pain it was relieved: a turn of the head showed that the Priest, Dirge, had cast a spell upon him to relieve him of the damage. He nodded in thanks just as he began to bat away the skeleton army amassing before him and Kael.

Meanwhile, Trixie was preparing herself for an attack that she knew would hurt her. She did not care however, as her mind was in an enraged state from what Mograine had said over the radio system she had helped put together with Tony: namely that the more talkative of the two brothers had been slain. Trixie was not even sure how she was going to tell Karl what happened to his brother, but she knew that he would be ten times more furious than how she felt then at having lost an ally.

She may have hired him to help them, but that did not make him any less of a comrade in her eyes, and so that anger she felt was bubbling out as the hidden power source within her began to pour the last of its unspent energy into her palms. It had been sucked dry by Kael’s battle with Dathrohan and only so much was left to tap into since it had had little time to replenish, but what remained was still more than enough for what Trixie was planning.

"You're already dead. I'll show you no mercy!" she called out to the mage as she brought her hands together in front of her to form a triangle.

"KIKOHO!"

Dirge finished casting a protective magic barrier around Lavitz and Kael when he caught sight of an enormous blob of arcane power launch from where Trixie was standing. The Undead in the way of the attack and its intended target were reduced to ash as it soared forth and found its mark on Thalnos. The Mage was not destroyed outright like its companions, possessing great magic power within it as well, but it was not going to be let off with a single hit.

"That one is powerful..." Dirge muttered to himself before realizing he ought to be healing the dup keeping the Undead from attacking him, as well as healing the Undead to death given how the Light burned them.

Trixie noticed that the Undead Mage had been stunned by her attack, but she was going to keep her word and not show him an ounce of mercy. She powered up again and attacked in succession, her assault more powerful but also more draining than the last, "KIKOHO!"

Kael recognized the spell Trixie was performing and ignored the Undead clawing at him to instead turn back towards her and warn her about its usage, "Trixie, you're already exhausted! Don't push yourself!"

Solely focused on the utter annihilation of her foe, Trixie didn’t hear him and lashed out with her power once more, this attack larger than even the last two that had rendered the Undead Mage barely holding together from the magic binding its limbs.

"KI-KO-HO!"

The white-purple mass of energy Trixie launched towards Thalnos eclipsed him entirely, his bones disappearing into its bright light as it engulfed him and a half dozen other Undead.

Kael punched the Undead trying to pull his armor apart and removed its head from its body as he watched a hyperventilating Trixie fall to her knees and hands, "Trixie..."

"I need a minute..." Trixie gasped in a quiet voice, having lost her breath from the power she had just pulled out of herself. There was nothing left for her to call upon, but perhaps just doing nothing for a few moments would help out.

Kael looked back to see that one of the dozen surviving Undead had gotten behind Lavitz and was about to plunge its sword into his back.

"Lavitz, behind you!"

Lavitz turned enough to catch the blade between his arm and the armor protecting his abdomen, his spear holding off three opponents before him. He twisted his body to yank the sword out of the one Undead’s hands before letting go of it and catching it with one of his own hands so he could cut down the Undead before him as he continued to hold them at bay with his spear.

Kael cut down the Undead behind his ally using his sword with a tinge of fire surrounding it. Lavitz smiled at the Elf as he was relieved of the threat, "Thanks...it's appreciated."

As soon as he said it Lavitz lunged out to impale the head socket of an Undead that had crept up on Kael. This did not stop the body’s struggling, so Lavitz kicked its body apart with a metal boot.

Kael laughed as Undead body parts fell at his feet, trying to ignore the disgusting rot he was going to have to wash out of his clothing, "Now we're even."

Dirge approached them both as they finished mopping up the last few Undead as a tag-team, his hands glowing as he tried to get them to stop moving around, "Here, let me tend to your wounds."

The two men shook off bits of Undead bone fragments and flesh that had made their way onto their armor and clothing as healing magic washed over their bodies and removed the damage incurred by the Undead. Once they were at full health, Dirge approached the other member of their party and knelt down to try and heal her too.

"Miss Sunstrider, can I help you as well?"

Trixie either didn’t catch his mistake or did not care to correct him as she waved a hand at him to not bother.

"Unless you can recover my mana as well, no...I'm fine."

Realizing that her only problems were from exhaustion, Dirge let her rest as he went to rejoin the others. Lavitz held a hand out to show his thanks, grateful that the man had been there to strike down some more Undead and also keep them from being too overwhelmed with injuries.

"Thank you, Dirge. You were a big help..." Lavitz paused as the man shook his hand, their eyes both going to face the heavily wounded Crusaders in the yard, "Will your allies forgive you?"

Dirge sighed in a knowing fashion, as if he had expected this, "I doubt it, but I owed you all for sparing my friends and allies when you did not have to..." he put on a forced smile as he looked back to Lavitz, "You guys are pretty alright, even if you are invading our base."

"Well...thanks?" Trixie chimed in as she finished catching her breathe enough to stand on her feet.

Kael furrowed his brow and approached her, using an arm to help his partner stand, "Trixie, you seemed quite furious. What happened?"

Trixie averted her eyes to the ground. She had meant to finish this without a single enemy or allied casualty...she wanted to do this as morally as possible, but she had failed her team in doing so, "Their commander, Mograine, has returned and he killed Tony right before we fought those Undead."

Just as she finished saying this, Karl entered the courtyard and rose an eyebrow at why everyone was looking at him weird.

Trixie moved to get past Kael and approach her hired soldier, who ought to be told about his brother’s death since he did not appear to know, "I'll tell him..."

Lavitz held an arm out to stop her, then moving forward himself, "Let me handle it."

Karl was not going to be happy, and if he throttled someone it ought not to be the person who was about to fall over.

Vanessa finished slicing through the calf of the last Crusader helping Lila, and as the man’s leg began to pour blood and he fell to the ground crying the battle finally became a one on one affair.

Lila was panting, having been fighting all day and having scrapes and wounds here and there on her body, while her opponent was less bruised but similarly panting from the rapid series of movements she had to make simply to not die while fighting far more opponents than herself. Vanessa felt her blood pumping, her heart thumping within her chest, as she stared down the last opponent standing in the hallway. The battle had been carried down and through the halls until they reached the inner courtyard’s entrance, with Vanessa having given up occasional ground as she felt the pressure mount against her bit by bit, always trying to keep her opponents in front of her and in-view.

Now at the edge of the courtyard she had been in earlier, Vanessa slowly backed into it as Lila moved onwards: Vanessa would be able to fight better with more space available, while Lila was thinking that the Scarlet Crusade forces at the Cathedral would be able to support her. She did not, however, know that the little they had left was being purposefully withheld as Mograine used her as a way of gauging the enemy’s strength.

As Lila lunged at Vanessa again and slashed horizontally to keep Vanessa from dodging to the sides as they exited the hallway, Vanessa in turn threw herself backwards and continued to try and evade her foe. They were both wearing down and things could not last much longer, and it was making Vanessa begin to panic. She was desperately trying to do as Trixie would want, not kill anyone, but her instincts born of countless close scrapes in her days with the Defias were making it more and more difficult not to just thrust her daggers into her opponent’s vitals at every parry. She was an assassin in terms of combat, so constantly being on the defensive was playing to a weakness while her opponent was more used to long battles.

Avoiding yet another attack with her newfound freedom in the courtyard, Vanessa yelled at her relentless foe.

"Just give up already! Do you want to die?"

Lila grit her teeth as she continued to press onward with a hail of sword slashes Vanessa was hard pressed to avoid or parry. The thought of losing was unnerving the veteran soldier, as were the events earlier at the village they massacred which painted Vanessa’s words about the Crusade’s ruthlessness in another light, and the fact that she was having to fight a child to protect those she cared about. It all wore on her to the point that all that was left was the next swing, the next block. That was all she had left, all she could process as her sweaty face contorted into a scowl at the difficulty she was receiving from someone at least a decade younger.

"I won't lose to some kid!"

Vanessa, in frustration, grabbed something she had been saving in her pocket for an emergency and tossed it down. A spark flashed before a cloud of smoke blew over a five meter radius in the courtyard. Her talent for potions and alchemy also meant she was quite skilled at crafting things that required chemical reactions and other such devices, so the smoke bomb was simple for her to craft with things from around the Monastery when she was posing as a new recruit.

Hidden by the smoke, Vanessa used the time to put even more distance between them, turning to move better and run instead of backpedal as she had been for far too long.

Coughing from the smoke she accidently inhaled, Lila swung her sword around wildly as she pressed forward in the smoke. She could not protect herself in the smoke, but she did not intend to leave herself open and so the wild swinging was to cut down anything that tried to close in on her as she stumbled out of it.

Vanessa paused to catch her breath just as she saw Lila emerge from the smoke. Vanessa turned and looked up at her opponent just in time to see Lila drawing a hand back.

By the time Vanessa attempted to throw herself to the side, she already had a deceptively fast hammer made of pure light hurling at her. The construct of light slammed into her body and she yelled as she felt herself become overwhelmed by its power, stunning her in place.

Lila used this time to catch up to Vanessa, who fought off the immense pain coursing through herself to also throw herself at Lila: Vanessa had retreated back to the pool and had no room to backtrack, and she did not want to become cornered by the steps, so she went forward instead.

Due to a last second dodge by Vanessa the two passed right by one another without making contact, instead cutting at one another with glancing blows. Vanessa felt a severe pain in one leg, while Lila’s shoulder panged from a hole now in it.

Mustering all of the holy energy she was capable of, Lila twisted around and cast the same spell she had before to stun Vanessa. It was weaker than the last time, and so when she twisted around to fling it at Vanessa it did not stun her quite as much, only even hitting her due to their proximity and Vanessa’s wounded leg.

Vanessa’s movements sluggish, Lila moved in to finish Vanessa. She had held off on using those powers since she did not wish to accidently slay an ally, but now was not the time to hold back.

Vanessa barely blocked Lila’s attack, using both her daggers to catch the sword that would have otherwise killed her. She began to lose her footing as she could barely back up enough to account for Lila’s forward movements, losing ground and not finding openings with which to exploit and wound her foe.

Lila continued to swing and smash her sword down upon Vanessa with increasing sloppiness, her own exhaustion catching up with her, but she did not relent in the quantity of blows raining down upon Vanessa. Vanessa just barely managed to block each and every one with increasing closeness to being actually wounded, their weapons swinging back and forth in a fast rhythm of swordplay.

As Vanessa utilized the spaciousness of the courtyard to her advantage to move back in different swerving directions, so too did it cost her: one of the unconscious and defeated Crusaders tripped her as she blocked another attack, having been unable to see his body with her attention focused forward.

In a panic as she fell down, Vanessa thrust her daggers out to try and block whatever next attack was coming her way.

No further slash or stab came.

Vanessa felt her mental faculties slowly come-to as she exited the flurry of combat. She paused to look at why she was not being attacked, and her eyes widened in horror at what she saw.

She had thrust up right underneath Lila’s ribs into the soldier’s upper abdomen. Lila had been about to swing down in a coup-de-gras when Vanessa’s change in momentum and defense caught her off guard.

Lila stared past Vanessa as the Teenager scrambled to her feet and removed her daggers. As the veteran fell to her knees and hands, she had one last thing on her mind: what would happen to that dumb rookie she had taken care of now that he was alone with this powerful foe.

"This potential...Jerid, don't underestimate her...don't make the same mistake I did..."

Standing a few feet away from her Vanessa was shaking as Lila fell onto the ground and stopped moving. Staring down at her bloodied daggers, Vanessa kept looking back between them before sheathing them and shaking her head through tears.

"Why..." she moved away from the corpse and gripped her hands, "Why wouldn't you stop..."

She too fell to her knees, tears dripping. She had tried being better...tried to suppress her murderous instincts...but even despite her best efforts she hadn’t been able to live up to the standard she had hoped to. Even knowing that no-one could really judge her, Vanessa felt like she had failed not only herself but the person she had come to help.

"I didn't want to kill you...why didn’t you..."

Inside the Cathedral, Mograine was pushed past as Jerid moved closer to the projection of the battle between Vanessa and Lila, where Vanessa had moved out of frame leaving only the still body of Lila.

"No!" Jerid cried out as he stared at the sight of yet another person he cared about dying. Mograine forcefully shoved him back and growled at his soldier.

"It's over Lieutenant!"

The projection also gave them the sound of the projected area, and so Jerid had been able to hear some of what was said. He had heard Lila say his name in her dying breaths, but he had not been able to make out really what she was saying due to the sound’s quality.

Tears welling in his eyes, the Lieutenant fought to remain standing as he literally shook with grief, "Lila...what...what were you trying to tell me?"

Mograine had observed both the battle with the Undead and the battle with Lila, so he felt like he knew the enemy’s capabilities well enough to confront them now and bring glory to the Crusade’s name once more...as well as his own.

He pointed to his distraught ally who had begun to move to follow him, "You're useless in a fight right now. Stay out of the way, and maybe I'll consider giving you a chance to redeem yourself later."

Jerid gave no response, but Mograine recognized the water in his eyes as well as what was dripping down his face.

For the third time he struck his ally, knocking Jerid down for daring to respond emotionally to the death of his mentor. His resolve weakened by the death of his would-be girlfriend, Jerid collapsed and was not able to get back up this time.

“Such pathetic emotions will hold you back,” Mograine reprimanded as he turned to leave. He had more people to kill.

Left behind and too wounded in body and heart to follow, Jerid silently cried to himself as he thought over all he had lost that day because of these invaders...because of that girl.

“Lila...Kacricon…”

He collapsed into an unconscious state once again, his mind embroiled in a war between anger and sorrow.

Author's Note

Cry for the devil is the correct trope I do believe. That makes two entries in Vanessa's diary for loved ones she's killed for Jerid, though one was to save someone's life and the other was basically out of her control and by accident. Unfortunately "sorry" isn't going to cut it...

I hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! Your support means a lot to me, and the more I hear from you the sooner I can update! :heart:

Meta Filler 2: One Year Anniversary, Plot, Pictures, and Music

A/N: Equestria Was Merely a Setback hit its one year old marker awhile back and I totally forgot, so I wanted to do a one year celebration bit if that's alright with all of you. I'm still working on the next chapter, but I was able to finish this in some spare time quickly because it's far easier than an actual chapter. Some extra content to hopefully tide you over until the actual chapter. There are a lot of different sections to it too, with a variety of content I think will satiate different kinds of people. Some near Q and A stuff at the start, then some link related materials, and so on and so forth.

While this may not be a real "chapter", it will have a fair bit of content for you all and may even answer some questions/thoughts you have been having, so I hope you enjoy and will let me know what you think in the comments below!

Princess Luna

As I am sure you all have realized by now, the most influential character in the story who we have not officially met yet is Princess Luna. Readers of We Remember Everything and Nothing Lasts Forever will know more specifically why, but neither are required reading: they just will solve the questions you may have a bit faster, since Trixie is rapidly though still just learning about how to manipulate the powers she learned from Princess Luna about dreams to further look into her own past, instead of just remembering it just bit by bit.

The basics are this, as shown so far through dreams and whatnot: Luna took Trixie under her wing and helped her out, playing a basically motherly role to her, but something happened between them and Trixie is now away from her and has a bitter feeling from it all, while possessing nice memories of how things were.

"Sunwell"

It's also been vaguely alluded to on a couple of occasions, but Trixie has the power of a "Sunwell" within her. The reason the Defias captured her and ignored Kael, despite being hired by what is alluded to be some part of the Illidari, is that they can use the Sunwell within her to enact their plans. She's basically a walking nuclear bomb of energy, but she only can barely scratch at its surface with her own powers...but someone who could just steal her power, like Kael accidently did, can tap into far more than her which was how he managed to go toe to toe with Dathrohan, who otherwise would have crushed the adventurers horribly. Those who seek the Sunwell could care less if a "fake" Kael'thas is running around if they can do anything they please with a Sunwell. For this reason, the plot of Burning Crusade has shifted its timeline: normally they seek the Sunwell after Kael'thas is defeated at Tempest Keep, but now pre-Tempest Keep Kael is turning on his people and attacking them in his hunt for power sources. The reward that can now be found on Kael's head is a result of them trying to use a high profile person (Kael) who many will recognize to find someone who is only just becoming a public figure.

The Sunwell was what once gave Blood Elves their power, and they became addicted to its energies. When they lost it, they became the magic withdrawal species that now is plagued by this new weakness...Trixie and Kael suffered from that pain early on because Trixie's Sunwell was not empowered for whatever reason (we'll learn why eventually) and she had nothing to satiate her natural thirst, nor that of Kael, who has a currently unknown link to Trixie that lets her feed him power.

Who "killed" Edwin VanCleef? (Or rather, defeated)

Another thing I have heavily hinted but I believe few have realized is that Kael and Trixie's first ally, Reuenthal, was the one who defeated Edwin VanCleef in the first iteration of Deadmines. The reason he had a map for them to use of the area that had such great detail was because he had been there in-person. He also had not known what the hell a Murloc at the time was, which is why he wrote "Mrglmrglmrgl" to denote where they were on the shore. I thought his heterochromia (two different eye colors) and ability to pass as a human (due to his split parentage) would have made it easy to guess, but alas I don't think my blatant hints (with even the characters realizing it, but not outright stating it) have had their intended effect. I really do like building up things to have people piece them together in an implicit manner, but I figured I may as well get this "secret" (that hasn't been a secret for ten chapters) out. Basically, Reuenthal is a Vanilla World of Warcraft player, while Trixie and Kael are players who joined at Burning Crusade who are going through a lot of Vanilla content.

As it would be, canon-Vanessa would not have had her plans to rebuild the Defias ruined by a pair of Elves, and instead would go on to get her happy revenge at some point before eventually being defeated at the time of Cataclysm where she'd die fighting the player characters. Now, Vanessa still wants revenge along with the rebuilding of the Defias yet again, but is distracted by it at the moment by the feelings of crushing loneliness at having lost everyone she loves and grief over her part in that. So she's trying to latch onto the only people who are showing her any kind of kindness...Trixie's group, with Trixie being the main one.

Rivalries

A lot of characters have long term counterparts/rivals, and so I'm working on what will be major rivalries as time goes on:

Trixie: an arena specific rivalry with Kargath, but also she is a parallel to Jaina (as someone Kael loves, but treats him wholly differently than how Jaina had), and also to Kael himself in one regard...her desires to become famous run contrary to the position they are put in due to his infamous status. She also wants to rise to the top and become a star, while Kael automatically is one due to his prince status. Not bad-rivals, but their partnership has tradeoffs in this regard.

Kael: Kael's counterpart is obviously the other Kael, whose anti-heroic actions have become outright villainous ones, while our Kael is still on the anti-hero side of things.

Lavitz: while not an outright rivalry, he fulfills a similar role to Kargath in the Illidari. As compared to Kargath, they both follow around Kael and help do the "dirty work", but Lavitz is fighting for honorable reasons and causes and not himself, while Kargath fights for his own ego. While one is just the brute, the other fulfills the role of an adviser/lancer to the leader.

Vanessa: Vendetta against Reuenthal, who she does not know specifically or else she'd have tried killing him already, and now on the receiving end of vengeance from Jerid, who she's killed the two closest friends of.

Hitting Your Limit

Also, a theme that will be explored in the coming arcs is the idea of "potential". That is, that there are just some things that one cannot surpass on their own, that everyone has a limit to what they can achieve in an area. Some are able to reach it easier than others, while some must toil hard to get what they can. Things can alter this of course, such as a powerful artifact or object.

Main cast
Trixie: Level 30 (Level 50, enhanced Level 80)
Kael: Level 30 (Level 70)
Lavitz: Level 32 (Level 60)
Vanessa: Level 37 (Level 45)
Reuenthal: Level 61 (Level 60)
Mittermeyer: Level 60 (Level 59)
Karl: Level 36 (Level 40)

Crusaders
Dathrohan: Level 62 Elite/Heroic, ~level 65 in normal levels
Mograine: Level 40 Elite/Heroic, ~level 45-50 in normal levels
Whitemane: Level 40 Elite/Heroic, ~level 45-50 in normal levels
Abbendis: Level 58 (Level 60)
Jerid: Level 30 (Level 70)
Lila: Level 35 (Level 70)
Kacricon: Level 30 (Level 55)

Others
Kael'thas (Outland): Level 70 Elite/Heroic, ~level 72-75 in normal levels
Kargath: Level 70 Elite/Heroic, ~level 71-72 in normal levels
Sylvanas: Level 65 Elite/Heroic, ~level 70 in normal levels (she is increasing from her level 60 in classis/vanilla WoW to her level in BC)

On the one hand we have characters who haven't hit their "peak" yet such as Trixie and Kael, at which point it'll be harder for them to improve (though not impossible). On the other, we have those who have hit their natural limit like Reuenthal and Mittermeyer and are not able to progress as easily as our protagonists. Similarly, Vanessa is a prodigy for combat for someone her age, but she comments in-game that she does not have the same talent as her father...despite being stronger, in game terms (level 80's boss versus ~level 20 boss). Certain things can augment one's capabilities, such as the mentioned Sunwell, but much like how leveling in the game becomes much more difficult after a certain point so will it here. Everyone can still continue onward from when they hit their natural limit, of course, but it'll be overall much more difficult (which is why, while our protagonists have been leveling about 20-25 levels since they last saw their allies, Mitter'meyer and Reuenthal have gotten about 15 despite preparing greatly for when they are needed).

Thicker than blood

Another theme that will prove important is that family is more than who you are related to by blood. Trixie had a poor relationship with her birth mother, which is why she latched onto Luna, but now she has a whole new group of people to bond with. On the one hand she has a great partnership with Kael, has the support and loyalty of Lavitz, and is fulfilling a similar role to Luna herself in relation to Vanessa, who was left adrift and needed someone. Vanessa had lost her father and mother, only to be looked after by the Saldeans and the Defias Brotherhood...though she lost both, forcing her to once again look for a new home.

Vanessa is not the only wounded soul in the story though, and Trixie has a special kind of perception for such things given what she has been through...so expect her to grow their makeshift family a bit more.

Character descriptions/pictures

One thing I hate about my own writing is that I'm not great at character or setting details...so I'm just going to give you all some pictures for them now to make up for past mistakes (since while I plan to go back and add details, I don't expect you all to re-read every chapter for a few bits of text)

I have done Trixie images earlier in the story, so I'll be skipping her.

Kael, our lovely deuteragonist. Now you may see why even our oblivious heroine Trixie is attracted to him (though she doesn't either realize or ant to admit it)!

Lavitz, our dear tank, as someone created him in Soul Calibur V

Vanessa (a bit older than now, as this story takes place before her introduction in WoW as a young adult)

Karl, a basically real life Human Kael'thas in his features. Blonde, lean, handsome...if he just was a bit more of a "pretty boy" he'd be a complete match. Needs more Orlando Bloom in him.

Tony, our deceased tech guy

Renault Mograine, our current villain

Mograine with his fellow leader and partner Whitemane

Grand Crusader Dathrohan

Brigitte Abbendis

Sylvanas, with her Dreadlord Varimathras behind her

Lor'themar Theron

Jaina, who has a striking resemblance to how Trixie looks minus Elven features and certain other physical differences...(Trixie has hips that are large like a horse's)

Reuenthal and Mitter'meyer, our loyal soldiers

And last but not least, our regular crusaders, since the little guy needs love too! I always do like minor villains...especially when they graduate to full fledged ones.

Lila, recently deceased despite Vanessa's best efforts

Jerid, whose hair looks remarkably like Lavitz's I must say.

Jerid with his friend Kacricon

Crossover parody/deconstruction

Now, I have been referencing a fair bit of WoW game mechanics, features, and traits and plan to eventually do a post compiling everything I've referenced, but for this time I want to go into one specifically that is preeeetty meta: this is a crossover story, and WoW itself references a TON of different materials, so I am doing the same (albeit different ones). In World of Warcraft we have the archaeologist Harrison Jones for example (Harrison Ford played Indiana Jones). I actually have plans to have the crossover element not just be a random thing that goes unexplained like some stories, however, and will gradually unveil it all as the main plot progresses...while also poking fun at how WoW does it.

So in order to parody WoW's tendency to reference things, I sat down and decided what characters would best do so without interfering with my basic plotline I already had planned, while also referencing it all in-story (with our as of yet unknown crossover character noting that many such crossovers are occurring). Here are the results.

Lavitz (The Legend of Dragoon): I was going to have the team pick up a Human tank and/or healer early on in the Westfall arc to allow them to succeed in the Deadmines. I had part of a mind to do a Paladin, Johanna, who was from Diablo but my mind was definitely on Lavitz since I had, while playing my Trixie character in WoW, run into a Lavitz who was roleplaying as him. So my mind was made up, especially since Lavitz is one of my favorite characters from that game, a good team player, and also most importantly a shipper in his source material of the main characters...AKA, someone to help along our clueless Trixie and our shy Kael.

Reuenthal/Mitter'meyer (Legend of the Galactic Heroes): I needed Blood Elves who would be willing to support Trixie and Kael despite their current allegiance to Lor'themar Theron, and there aren't too many Kael'thas loyalists in Azeroth (they happen to be in Outland), so I needed to kind of either change an existing minor character or utilize a reference...so I went the route of reference and tweaked some minor Blood Elf characters in a compromise. I did not change the allegiance of existing NPC's, I just gave them more in-depth characters (Mitter'meyer's torturers), while adding two characters who are notable for pledging allegiance to an upstart golden hero who is trying to topple an existing leader. What confirmed my choice was that Reuenthal's character in his original series causes the downfall of a family, which in turn leads to someone from it seeking revenge on him...much like I was planning to have Vanessa seek revenge for her father. Instead of a nameless nobody, I was able to turn it into an interesting conflict.

Karl/Tony (Die Hard): I needed thieves who would help with a break in, and Karl's a complete badass while Tony is smart, so the decision was simple.

Jerid/Kacricon/Lila (Zeta Gundam): I was toiling away after completing the "arc" of the Huntard we've had since the beginning, kind of dissatisfied that I didn't accomplish more with them. They were a simple villain, fulfilled their purpose, and I don't mind the way I portrayed what is basically a player in WoW...but I still felt like I needed a better recurring villain, so I took to thinking how I could make one in the next arc. While putting together the Crusader arc, I realized that I could very well characterize them and show that they are not just pure evil, every single one of them, while also showing that their leaders are horrible and that many of them do horrible things. Thus I borrowed the sympathetic villain from Zeta Gundam, whose mentor/lover is killed by a kid (seventeen year old, older than Vanessa at least), and then soon after he loses his best friend to the same person. I reversed things to suit the circumstances and because doing so amused me. I'm hoping to follow up on this tragedy by showing that even our villains have loved ones, much like Vanessa previously showed...just now in an interesting twist she is on the receiving end of the hatred and revenge. As you have seen a glimpse of, even outpowered and horribly wounded, Vanessa was actually contested by a barely standing Jerid (such is the strength of Retribution).

Character Theme Songs

Now, I talked about some songs in the last one, so I thought I'd do that again here. Here are some songs and the characters I'd attribute them to, as well as reasons for all but the first of them (which instead I'll leave up to you guys to ponder).

Trixie Lulamoon (Breaking the Habit): I'll leave it up to you to interpret this one, since Trixie is our main protagonist and I'll be going more in-depth with the others.

Kael'thas Sunstrider (How Can I Live): A seeming twin to the Kael'thas in Outland, our protagonist is very much akin to how the man once was rather than how he has become. Prone to making rash/reckless decisions in the long or short term if it means saving those he cares about, first Trixie after he awoke in Sunstrider Isle, then Lavitz, and now his people as a whole, who he has remembered the pain and grief of. Seeing as how the one in Outland fell due to constantly choosing the lesser of two evils and making such decisions, it remains yet to be seen if this iteration will follow down the path of the other completely or if he will change his fate wholly.

Reuenthal (Question Everything): A man tortured by his upbringing, I find it fitting to assign him a song that is from the same band that inspired "We Remember Everything", in which the main characters (our Trixie being one of them) are souls who have suffered their fair share. Prone to self-destructive tendencies, blaming himself for his mother's actions (trying to kill him as an infant), and highly independent, questioning the social context he was born into (nobles, racial bigotry, why certain people have power).

And an instrumental one to go along with it.

Lavitz's theme: his actual theme from The Legend of Dragoon. Kind of lowkey, the song is one of the things the game uses to drive home the tragedy of a soldier's life, in addition to the symbolism of cherry blossoms. Being a good man does not mean life is easy.

Vanessa's theme (Nightmare): she is not pure evil, but she has continually brought suffering on herself with her actions (though not all of it is her own fault, she did sacrifice her loved ones to save her own life, and her attempt to work with seemingly the Illidari backfired and destroyed what she had left).

And here's one last one for our new recurring villain, Jerid, who has suffered at the hands of Vanessa. A song about taking revenge, it is a good match for a Retribution Paladin. Can also be used this coming chapter for the inevitable Karl vs Mograine showdown in vengeance for his brother.

Not a character related one, but this one should play at some point in the next chapter...

That's all for this meta-filler chapter, and I'd like to thank you all for supporting this story this past year, and I hope you'll still be with me in a year to come! Next time we'll hit the climax and finale of the Scarlet Crusaders arc, and boy is it going to be a big finish! I hope you'll all enjoy, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts when the time comes.

Author's Note

Well, I hope that all gave you guys a bit of a peek into the story! Been about a half year since the last one of these, and thought I may as well celebrate our one year anniversary in some kind of way, as well as give you something in the meantime since I'm in midterms and finishing the next chapter is taking awhile as a result (it's a big one).

I look forward to hearing any thoughts you guys have in the comments below, and I'm also open to doing a Q and A style thing there if you guys have any questions I can answer (without spoiling too much, of course)!

Level 31: It Only Hurts Just Once

A/N: Special thanks to the other sans, InsanityStreak, Freya, Mister E, Ace Azzermeen, Doctorfoxwolf, PrinceUniversa, GamerGoddessDin, _CheckMate_, and Housecarl of Clan Drops for commenting between our last chapter and the meta chapter I made for you all!

This is quite possibly my favorite chapter in a long time, as the end of it is something I had planned since the first 10,000 words I wrote...hope you'll enjoy the culmination of many plotlines all in one for the finale to the Scarlet Crusade arc!

Dream bits in this chapter are from this chapter of We Remember Everything, though as per usual, you all will get the full picture here anyways: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/109565/30/we-remember-everything/will-you-fail-me-now

Hope you all enjoy, and I look forward to your thoughts in the comments below! I'm finally almost past midterms, so your support will really help me out in this stressful time!

“So Lor’themar’s own soldiers won’t do as he says? He’s as useless as he was when he was subordinate to me.”

Sylvanas laughed as she thought back to her time as Ranger-General of the Elven race now known as the Blood Elves…she had died directly prior to their reformation under Kael’thas’s lead, and thus had been spared seeing them struggle to eke out a living with their many enemies all nipping at them to try and finish them off.

That boy prince was in over his head then, and if the reports were true, he was again…only now he stood in opposition to his people, and was so careless as to allow a man to run around using his name.

In response to Sylvanas’s demeaning remark, her right hand Dreadlord Varimathras spoke up as he loomed over her shoulder and peered down at the map she was going over, “He still is in many ways.”

Sylvanas grinned, “Clever. Now, mobilize our forces. The Scarlet Crusade has pulled back to their fortress in a hurry and relieved our frontlines. With what Lor’themar told us, they must be facing quite the crisis…one which we will exploit.”

“As you will, my lady.”

Once her associate left her alone in her meting chambers, Sylvanas took another look at the map and moved pieces across it from Silvermoon to the Scarlet Monastery.

“What kind of fool lets a third of his army just walk out?”

It would reflect poorly on both of the Horde factions on the continent if news of this were to break to their Orc, Troll, and Tauren allies…the Tauren already detested the Forsaken and the Blood Elves for their tainted status as vile Undead animated by sick magic and mana addicted and stenched beings, but Sylvanas did not really care what those backwards cows thought of her people.

No…she didn’t want Lor’themar’s blunder to reflect on her and make her lose face with Thrall, the only person who she currently bowed to…for now.

“The Horde needn’t be worried about this little matter. For both Lor’themar’s sake and my own...”

Sick to her stomach after her recent victory, Vanessa had trouble rising to her feet from the kneeling position she had taken to, her hands holding her daggers limply on the ground in front of her.

“Why…”

A sharp pain in the back of her spine knocked her to the ground and she dropped one of her daggers while the other stabbed into the ground as she fell forward.

Behind her, Mograine stomped a boot down on Vanessa’s back and laughed at her exhausted state. She had put every ounce of energy she had into that last fight, and now she was easy prey…as he had intended, “You fought admirably for a brat. It’s pathetic that one of my veteran soldiers died to you. I saw the whole affair and I must say I am disappointed, but then again it only takes one instance of bad luck to end years of training.”

Her back cracking as he stepped harder and harder on it, Vanessa felt her body press into the cold ground as she struggled to breathe.

“You…you let her…”

Mograine stomped down on her back again and then threw a kick with the same foot into her abdomen, sending her skidding and tumbling across the ground, the dirt scraping at her open skin.

“Of course I did…why help her when I can wait for her to tire you out and then take the credit myself?”

Vanessa’s eyes were gripped in shock as Mograine knelt down and grabbed her by the neck, constricting the red bandana covering her mouth and hiding its disgusted expression. In the Defias, they had all cared for one another when she was younger…they were a group that sweat and bled together…

This man was nothing like that.

Mograine laughed as he tightened his grip on her throat further, “Don’t look up at me with those shocked blue eyes. They don’t suit you, just like they didn’t suit that weakling you defeated earlier. He wanted to help, but in the end he could not muster the strength to battle once again.”

His eyes caught sight of an explosive held on Vanessa’s belt, and it gave him an idea.

Taking the dynamite and a lighter from Vanessa, Mograine lit it with one hand with some brief struggle as he continued to choke the teenager, “The weak do not deserve to be honored.”

He tossed the dynamite over to where Lila’s body lay. This done, he changed his grip on Vanessa so that he was dragging her by her hair away from the field and into the Monastery’s hallway she had come from.

“Let go of me!” Vanessa howled as she was near forced to watch as her own explosive erupted and engulfed the field in a bright light as they reached the inside of the hallway, “You fucking monster!”

Mograine smirked, “You’ll be joining her soon enough in Hell, so you should hold your tongue lest you damn yourself to even more suffering.”

At the graveyard, post battle, Lavitz had taken their hired associate over to a nearby room in the Monastery to break the news of his brother’s death.

The results were to be somewhat expected.

Out in the hallway, Trixie tiredly dragged herself out of the way of a table hurling out of the small room Lavitz had brought Karl in to contain him in the expected rage. He began thrashing the room’s remaining furniture, the blonde man transforming from the calm professional to a raging berserker the moment he learned of the news.

Lavitz tackled him into a wall and pinned him there, using his heavy armor to keep him pinned their despite Karl’s initial attempt to push back, "Karl, calm down!"

Seething but no longer fighting Lavitz, Karl looked the other man in the eye and nearly scared him with the bloodlust visible in his own, "I vant blood."

Understanding the pain of losing a sibling, Lavitz loosened his grip slightly and tried to talk sense into the man, "And you may just have it yet, but not if we don't hold together and stick to the plan! If we do that he will be neutralized as a threat, and then you can do whatever you please, but for now we must keep our emotions in line!"

Having segued into a serene rage, Karl spoke back in his accented voice, "I don't vant neutral, I vant dead."

"I can't promise that, but if it comes down to it..." Lavitz shook his head and sighed, not really wanting to hold his ally back but understanding he needed to in order for the mission to succeed, "Just keep your head cool for one more hour. One more hour and our plan will be finished."

"And if he changes the plan?"

That question, asked quietly yet piercingly, led Lavitz to let go of him and give him a look that said “have fun”, if that were the case.

Everyone else had been watching the encounter in the hallway, glad that they had left it to the tough Lavitz to restrain their partner. Relieved that things had gone relatively “well”, Trixie sighed and looked away only to catch sight of a familiar red bandana as she turned her head.

"Oh, Vanessa, you're back—"

Her voice halted as she turned instead to gasping and grabbing Kael’s arm, who in turn faced what Trixie was looking at and showed surprise of his own.

Mograine, standing with Vanessa hanging from her neck and bandana as a living shield before him, laughed as the group prepared to defend themselves, "Not quite."

Even with nearly broken ribs caused by his stomping on her previously, Vanessa did her best to raise her voice as she was hoisted up before him, "Just shoot him!”

Despite what she said, both Kael and Trixie held their fire. Dirge took refuge behind them while Karl and Lavitz ran out of the room they had been in in, taking position at the front. Karl’s fury was bridled only by the fact he did not have his crossbow in hand, and he did notice that Mograine had that girl from before hostage. He had been impressed by her, but that wouldn’t keep Karl from holding back vengeance for his brother on her behalf.

"I am Scarlet Commander Renault Mograine, and your disgrace of my forces ends here!"

Kael pulled up his sword and grit his teeth. Mograine planned on using Vanessa as a shield against them, but Kael would not let Trixie come to harm…but how would he manage to protect her and the others without hurting Vanessa as well?

Lavitz reacted quickly to Kael’s move and used an arm to block Kael’s blade, "Be careful. Rumor has it that this bastard killed his own father for power...he'll spare no time in harming her."

"Listen to your Warrior friend," Mograine swung Vanessa like a rag doll to strike the nearest wall, her body less responsive afterwards as she hung from his hand, "You see, I have taken the time to study you all, and I have realized you hold yourselves to a higher standard than we do,” he held his multi-edged and bladed mace up to Vanessa’s neck, “Touch me, and I'll cut her throat."

Trixie growled as she balled a fist. She had no magical energy to really use against him, and with Vanessa in such a position their fighting capabilities were hamstrung...

For Trixie, listening to Vanessa and just attacking him was not an option.

"Touch her, and I may just make an exception to my no killing rule."

Mograine laughed as he slowly approached them, taking care to keep his living shield in the way even as Vanessa tried to struggle, "Oh come now, I have already killed one of you...what's another?"

With a snarl Karl lunged forward weaponless and swung a fist at Mograine’s face. Instead it buried itself in Vanessa’s stomach, at which point Mograine swung her mightily as a weapon at Karl, the impact containing enough of the Commander’s might that it knocked Karl back but not down.

As the mercenary soldier ran forward again, Trixie called after him and threw a hand out powerlessly, “Wait!”

Behind Karl, Lavitz and Kael both leapt forward…while Dirge used his magic to shield Vanessa after a whispering suggestion from Lavitz. While Vanessa was swung as a second club again to swat Karl aside, Lavitz used his spear as a pole-vault to jump kick Mograine in the chest and knock him off balance. The spear would have glanced off the man’s armor or possibly impaled Vanessa if the shield broke, but this instead let Kael swat down Mograine’s arm with his blade and loosen the fiend’s grip.

Caught off guard by the ingenious combination, Mograine wildly threw Vanessa at the nearest of them, Kael, and as he let go of her due to a lack of grip she flew from his hand. Her bandana tore as she crashed into Kael and knocked him nearly off his feet, the Elf managing to stop her harsh fall to the ground and instead have her land on all fours.

As the three men met Mograine in melee combat, Vanessa looked down at the floor where the tatters of her red bandana met her eyes. Her soft indigo eyes began to well up with tears as she began to claw at the pieces of the last memento she possessed of her father.

“No…no…No!” the torn red fabric in hand, Vanessa let her tired body start collapsing as her tears fell, “It’s all I had left…”

Mograine’s strength allowed him to, in a single swipe, bash Kael and Lavitz ten feet back and off their feet. Kael was stunned from the attack, with Trixie helping him get up and Dirge healing his profusely bleeding forehead, while Lavitz slowly climbed to his own feet of his own accord. Still fighting Mograine, Karl ducked under a mace swing and uppercutted his foe with enough strength born of rage that Mograine actually paused a moment in surprise before swinging again and both slashing and bashing Karl’s chest with the weapon.

Sobbing on the ground, Vanessa barely noticed as Karl was knocked past her, and the powerful mace coming down towards her to finish her off was completely missed by her in her grief over losing the last thing she had belonging to her father. She had lost his other bandana before when hunting the Elf who defeated him, so to lose her spare after all her other suffering served as the straw to break the camel’s back.

Instead of being slain by Mograine’s furious strike, a particular grunt told her someone had just been struck. Looking up, Vanessa could see Lavitz standing before her and blocking her with both his body and spear.

"Lavitz?” Vanessa gasped as she saw blood begin pooling at the ground beneath him. The mace had struck his chest hard enough to dent the heirloom armor and cut into the flesh beneath, though it was far from fatal, “What are you doing?”

"One way or another, we're all family now..." sweeping his spear out in front of him, he drove Mograine back, "I won't let an honorless bastard like this get the best of me!"

Mograine laughed as he regained his footing and prepared himself to attack again, "You don't have a father either, Lavitz of Stormwind! At least I defeated my own with my own strength, and he was not slain by some fool, protecting worthless Elves!"

Lavitz spun his spear in his hands in precise motion to slam into Mograine’s wrist and divert his swing before following it up with a kick to the leg that struck Mograine’s knee and slowed him. Next Lavitz swung his spear for a killing blow at the man’s face and neck, but Mograine tilted his body to block it with his armor and the spear instead just chipped away at it. Having not succeeded in killing the man, Lavitz forced himself forward and slammed into him to knock him away from Vanessa, who was beginning to crawl to her feet and eventually pulled herself up onto her knees in front of Lavitz, who wiped his mouth of blood.

As Mograine leapt back at Lavitz, the silver and green armored man grinned, "I owe your forces for something I am not at liberty to say just yet," he stepped past Vanessa and countered Mograine’s attack just barely. The man was far more powerful, and one wrong move would outright kill Lavitz, but he was determined to keep fighting all the same, "But it does not matter. Even weakened, my body is more than enough to fight your ilk!"

One hand bearing down on Lavitz and slowly pushing him back, Mograine held his other hand up as light swirled around it, "I am a veteran of a thousand battles! I know the roles each of you fill, and the threats each of you pose!" a hammer of light formed in his palm, which he then hurled past Lavitz and over his shoulder, "Which is why, traitor, you die first!"

Trixie turned to the side as the healer helping her help out Kael was struck by the Light formed hammer took him off his feet and knocked him off his feet and onto his back.

"Dirge!"

Mograine smirked as the man who had been about to heal Lavitz collapsed, then he used his free hand to grab the Warrior’s shoulder and strike him across the face. Lavitz recovered swiftly, but Mograine was already running past him and towards the others, "The lumbering Warrior who can take a hit and deal one, but who can't keep up with a more agile foe!"

The recovered Kael shoved Trixie out of the way as Mograine bore down on both of them. The mace smashed into Kael’s gut and his lower body carried backwards, causing him to fall forwards as he was thrown back, "The Mage whose power is immense, but who expends it all quickly due to a lacking mana pool! If you had any energy right now, you may be able to fight!"

Turning last to Trixie, Mograine smirked as he stared down the terrified Elf. Thinking that he had won already, Mograine took his time stepping to her and preparing his attack.

"And you are the moralist who holds everyone back with your unwillingness to bring true harm to either foe or ally. Your hesitation to act decisively is your fatal flaw!"

He lifted his mace up in the air, ready to swing it down and end Trixie’s life, when a purple-black orb smashed into his skull and Mograine lost control of his mace, the weapon dropping down onto his own skull. The Commander collapsed on the ground unconscious, with Trixie gaping at the source of the attack.

The former Crusader who had joined them dusted his outfit off as he pulled himself to his feet. He had only been stunned a few moments, and since his primary focus was using Shadow magic and not healing he had decided to do just that, "It's called Mind Blast. Goes straight through the thickest of armor and causes immense damage since it is basically the worst migraine possible in a ball."

“…can I have it?”

Dirge laughed as he helped both Trixie and Kael up, “I think it’s more of a technique suited for someone such as myself, just as you seem more in tune with arcane power.”

As Trixie began listening to how Shadow magic was basically the opposite of the holy Light, she began kicking Mograine half-heartedly in the face to make sure he stayed knocked out. Kael, meanwhile, noticed Vanessa staring at the pieces of her bandana and he got an idea.

“Hey…”

Vanessa looked up when she heard Kael’s voice and saw that he was kneeling down with a red cloth in his outstretched palm.

Her eyes lit up as she recognized Kael’s bandana as the one she had lost at Silvermoon long ago, “This…”

The reason she had been so torn up was that, even if she sewed the other one back together, it never would look the same again. It would always be a pieced together, ruined, fabric…but this one was whole, and it brought tears to her eyes to see, though different tears than before.

“Someone gave it to me. It looks just like yours…” Kael shrugged as Vanessa gently took it and brought it to her chest, “I don’t know if it—”

His voice died as he found his leg being both hugged and cried into by her.

“T-thank you…”

Seeing the emotionally unstable girl express gratitude brought a small smile to Kael’s face. He didn’t know the specific significance, but he could tell it was important to her, “You’re welcome...I figure it belongs to you more than me anyways.”

When Mograine woke up, he found himself in a room belonging to the armory in the Monastery. A quick glance revealed that they had removed all of his armor and clothing except his shirt and shorts, with even his boots now relocated elsewhere (Kael’s feet). He was not tied to anything, and it seemed like he had been dragged here given his position on the floor.

Whatever these invaders were doing, they were moving around enough that they couldn’t afford to just tie him down in any one spot, especially since letting him go would be a severe threat.

Mograine began to stand up until he found a crossbow pointed at his head by a man in black. Looking slowly up, the quiet yet furious Karl kept his gun poised on the man.

He had been hoping he would wake up, even though he had been ordered to make sure he stayed down but alive.

Glancing around, Mograine noticed that dynamite had been set up all over the room. Using the armory’s own dynamite, explosives brewed by Vanessa, and what Karl and Tony had brought with them, they were planning on bringing down the entire armory down and preventing its inheritors from using the weapons within. Just because Trixie was obtaining this territory on behalf of Stormwind did not mean she wanted them to be able to launch raids from it on the relatively close Undercity and the Undead there. While Karl looked after their MVP prisoner and finished the explosives, the others were finishing up dragging the former inhabitants of the armory, all weakened and sickened from the poison Vanessa had fed them, and bringing them to the library, which was wholly unmanned after everything that happened.

Trixie had protested leaving Karl with the man alone, but Lavitz had insisted that it was for the best. Given Mograine’s utter lack of humanity Trixie decided to just leave it be, hoping Karl would follow orders and keep him alive…though she wouldn’t be heartbroken if he broke that promise. They had promised him they would bring him justice afterwards, but could he wait that long?

“You look familiar…” Mograine grinned as he looked up at Karl, “I bet you’re related to that weakling I killed at the gate.”

Karl twitched as he held the crossbow steady.

“Do you want to hear what he sounded like when he screamed?”

The plan could be damned.

Karl kicked Mograine in the stomach, causing the other man to laugh through his pain.

“I’m sure if he took a hit like that he’d have made much more amusing noises.”

Karl yanked Mograine up and tried forcing him to rise on his own, “Stand.”

“Karl, who is there? What’s going on?” Trixie asked over their communicator, which Karl promptly removed and dropped to the ground.

Pointing his crossbow at Mograine’s head again, he spoke softly, “We’re both professionals…this is personal.”

Even dazed from having just woken up, Mograine was able to twist to the side and push the crossbow away from his head. In doing so, he took a swing at Karl and knocked him back. The entire group had barely been able to face Mograine, and it had only been because of Dirge’s surprisingly powerful dark magic that they had succeeded at all. Now, Karl was alone with Mograine, who while not armored was still a trained fighter.

Mograine pummeled Karl again and again and again in the gut as he forced him back into a series of ammunition crates for the Crusade’s cannons. Once there, he pinned Karl to the crates and smashed him with harder and harder strikes that could break a normal man’s bones. A knee caught Karl in the chest and a fist smashed him in the face, Mograine’s assault not relenting.

Instead of bowing to the pain, Karl fought through the pain and fought for leverage against his opponent, soon twisting his foe’s arm and exposing him to a powerful straight punch to the face that knocked Mograine back and onto the floor.

Once there, Karl took his time pacing around the Commander, occasionally sending a strong yet graceful kick into the man’s body each time he tried to get up. Mograine reached for the crossbow Karl had dropped when they began their melee, but instead received a kick to the jaw.

Mograine fought to still get up, but a series of Karl’s ballet-like kicks kept him from doing so. Eventually one of Karl’s strikes missed their mark as he moved in on Mograine, and the man used that moment to seize him and slam the infuriated brother down onto the ground. In a pure grapple, Mograine’s greater strength would benefit him while on their feet Karl had access to his Rogue-like mobility. Slamming Karl’s head into the floor and then nearby ammunition crates, Mograine reversed the savage beating by smashing Karl’s head again and again.

“You should have heard your brother squeal when I broke his damn neck!”

With an elbow to Mograine’s face, Karl managed to roll out of his grip and then reach his dropped crossbow. Mograine looked up just in time to see his enemy grab it, and his attempt to get up and dodge it was a second too late as a bolt buried in his back.

Karl panted as he got up and began to prepare his crossbow for another shot, expecting his foe to be near dead from the shot that went through his body…but a flash of light proved him wrong.

“Say hello to your brother for me! Your friends will be joining you both soon!”

The spell Mograine had selfishly not used earlier, Lay on Hands, restored him to his full health, and so in a burst of unexpected speed he rushed up to Karl before he could finish reloading and assaulted him. The attack carried them both onto a cart used to transport materials, and as Mograine once again returned the punishment he had been given the cart moved back and soon slammed into a wall. This gave Karl the opportunity to kick his opponent off of him, knocking Mograine into a pillar and then move in to strike him again.

“Damnit!”

Unfortunately, Mograine’s superior health allowed him to avoid Karl’s attack and instead put him in a headlock. He began to drag Karl with him as he used his other arm to punch the man in the face over and over.

“You may have taken my armor, but I’m still stronger than you!” Mograine growled, “Now die already you blasted thief!”

In a desperate move, Karl flipped himself around and tried to use his leverage in a different way. He managed to undo the headlock in this unexpected twist, and he then forced Mograine’s head back at an unnatural angle in an attempt to break it with the same use of applied force as he had been using the entire battle he should have lost since the first moment.

Mograine gasped as he felt his neck grow closer and closer to snapping, though something he noticed beside him inspired him to do yet another reversal. A series of chains were hanging nearby, ready to be used to secure crates and objects, but they would serve another purpose soon.

The Commander grabbed them and dragged them around Karl’s neck before yanking them in a way that dragged Karl off of him. This released the pressure off Mograine’s neck and allowed him to then grab more of the chains as he grappled with Karl. Already winded, Karl was unable to fight Mograine off as the man wrapped a few such chains around his neck and then twisted them into an awful knot, which Mograine followed up with draping over a torch’s metal perch on a pillar to hang Karl.

His foe left hanging and choking to death, Mograine smirked as he prepared to take his revenge for the humiliation he had just suffered.

“Now…the others.”

Trixie bit her lip as she and the others gathered at the end of the library. The unconscious Crusaders had been easy enough to lock away in a large spiraling room that had some unfortunate man at the center in a wretched state, probably having collapsed there from Vanessa’s poison long ago to no-one’s notice. Still, the noises she was hearing over Karl’s communicator were not comforting, especially since it sounded like a fight.

“That didn’t sound good…Karl, what’s the situation there?”

No response still. They had set the dynamite to go off at a certain time, so if Karl was not out of there soon he would be killed along with it…

“Karl? What’s happening?”

Still no response. Lavitz moved to leave and go check, but Kael stopped him as his long ears caught a faraway sound…a sound that was quite like that of boots stomping in a cacophony grating on one’s ear.

“That noise…”

The end of the library was a long hallway, at one end having a small circular room that was currently unoccupied but that they were standing in front of, and at the other an entrance on the right and the larger circular room on the left.

From the entrance the half-armored body of Mograine emerged, his face full of fury as he stomped forward with a new mace in hand and while rows and rows of Crusaders filled in behind him, “I don’t care what you do, kill them all!”

The diversion group had done their job…but it seemed that the base’s Crusaders had come back just a few minutes early.

Trixie sighed as she realized her plan had come so close to working despite a slew of setbacks she couldn’t have planned for, “It seems they’ve come back…”

Kael forced Trixie back into the room behind them, surprising her with his sudden forcefulness, “Trixie, you’re still recovering. Stand back.”

“But—”

Kael glanced back as Lavitz stood beside him and the two formed a wall to the room’s open passageway, “If we stand our ground, we can hold them in this hallway. Now no arguing, move back!”

Dirge retreated into the room with Trixie, while the enervated Vanessa looked up from where she had been laying against a wall to see the approaching small army. With a groan, she pulled herself to her feet and sighed, drawing the sole dagger she still had and preparing for the coming horde of enemies who were just beginning to charge.

Trixie questioned Vanessa’s choice to stand with the two men in front, given her condition, “Vanessa?”

Vanessa’s red bandana hid her blush as she became embarrassed by Trixie’s concern, “I have to do my part…if I don’t we’ll all die.”

“But you’re—”

Trixie’s complaints were rebuffed by the determined girl, “Now I’m the one protecting you. Stay back.”

The Crusaders began to charge once they reached the halfway point of the hallway, which prompted Vanessa to pull out a match.

“Oh, and one more thing…”

She tossed it forward, and it struck a flame on a line of explosive chemicals she had brewed. This path in turn led to a series of hidden dynamite hidden in holes on the floor Vanessa had crawled past earlier, and suddenly the three quarters of the hallway away from them exploded violently in an upward fashion.

“While you all were taking care of the armory, I had some free time.”

The explosions were relatively weak, and the divine shields protecting the various Crusaders kept them from being slain outright by them, but it did take out the legs of many of those advancing, which was the goal.

The Crusaders in front ignored the pain and finished their approach, Kael blocking Mograine himself as Vanessa and Lavitz began to block others from getting into the room where the recovering Trixie and their healer stood.

“You can live without your legs, but you can’t without your head, so you better get out of my way!”

Standing back from the battle, Trixie felt something click in her head as she watched Vanessa fighting tooth and nail in front of her…a flood of memories that came without context or explanation, but that felt related.

“Princess Luna, I am sorry, but this is something I have to do. Not just for you.”

The beast howled as it awoke in pain, its sleep being interrupted by the stinging in its ankle. The Ursa flailed briefly as it tried to rise to its full height in the cramped cave. Trixie, meanwhile, powered up another strike to fire at the monster.

Trixie cringed as she saw Kael take a hit from Mograine intended for Lavitz, and then cringed again as Lavitz howled in pain as a sword cut into his armor that had already been opened up. It slowly regenerated itself she had learned, but it was not fixed fully enough to keep him from such a blow.

Beside them, Vanessa was knocked into a wall as she desperately fended off two Crusaders, a light forming over her and the other two as Dirge tried to heal them all as best he could.

“I seem to have gotten your attention. Your cub and I are already quite familiar.”

Trixie closed her eyes as she realized she was experiencing one of those memories she previously could only see while asleep…was her power finally manifesting itself completely?

“The reports have said you two have slain fourteen of my kind,” Trixie let loose another barrage of sparkling fire to strike the Ursa as her voice slowly morphed into a yell, “As Princess Luna’s apprentice, I will make sure you harm nopony else!”

She was fighting an Ursa Major and Minor…the mere idea of facing a bear the size of a cave and its offspring sent shivers down her spine, and she began to wonder how she possibly got out of it.

Trixie sneered, ignoring the rising feelings of exhaustion as she continued to use her most powerful magic, “Does that hurt? I’ve grown stronger since your cub humiliated me!”

That cub she was fighting in the memory was the same one that had ruined her career back in Ponyville…the one which two fools had brought for her to defeat, only for her skills to be too meager. The fools had been tempted to do this because a group of ponies had heckled her…

Twilight Sparkle…that was the name of one of the ponies, but who was that? Trixie had to wonder, as the name sounded important.

Despite its size the Ursa moved with great speed, its paw striking Trixie just as she blasted into its leg again. The impact sent Trixie flying back into the cave wall, though mid-crash Trixie used her magic to teleport away so that she could avoid the Ursa’s follow up strike that right then smashed the wall.

The memories were flowing too fast for Trixie to easily grasp in the tense moment, but she tried her best to focus. She was experiencing this for a reason, and since she had used up her mana she couldn’t help fight yet, so she may as well see if this would somehow come to help.

Trixie stumbled after she appeared in the center of the cave, now behind the Ursa. The hit she took left her completely winded, not that she was running at full energy before it. This did not stop her from using her telekinesis to open her bag by the cavern’s entrance, nor did it stop her from sending a small vial hurtling at the Ursa’s face as it turned around again.

Trixie coughed up some blood as she sped up the projectile, “Even if you do hit me, I’m not going to back down. I’m through being pushed around!”

“I lost everything!”

Before her, the Crusade began to press into them as reinforcements came in to replace those who had been wounded. The tide of Crusaders seemed endless, and it was everything the three standing in front could do to just not die even as they were rapidly healed by the powerful Priest they had acquired.

“My house!”

Vanessa cried in pain as a shield slammed into her and pinned her to the wall, only managing to escape death by stabbing into the man’s sword wielding wrist.

“My job!”

Lavitz grunted as he blocked three other Crusaders with his spear, its metal beginning to show that it was not going to be able to take much more abuse.

“My life!”

Kael was knocked back a few steps by Mograine, who was trying his best to get at the priest behind him to no success. Recovering from the push, Kael forced himself back towards the battle to keep from allowing Mograine through.

“Princess Luna gave me all of that back and more, so I will do anything to deserve her kindness!”

Just as Luna arrived though the Ursa, with a very wounded leg that was beginning to show inner flesh, connected its paw with Trixie’s side.

“Trixie!”

Her student crashed and rolled across the rough ground before coming to a stop a few dozen feet away from where she had been standing. The Ursa moved in for the kill, bearing its claws down on her—

Only for the claws to embed themselves in the ground, Trixie’s illusion fading away.

Trixie braced herself as the memories began to tumble in one after another at an ever faster pace.

This Princess Luna…Trixie felt a pang akin to heartbreak when thinking of her, but why? She also felt warmth like she did with Kael and the others she cared for, but why was that pain there?

Trixie hacking up blood gave away her new position to the Ursa. One side of her had a gash going down from shoulder to hip, and blood was flowing freely from the wound. Other scrapes and cuts marred her blue body, but Trixie ignored them all to continue on fighting against the Ursa.

As Trixie shot at the Ursa’s wounded leg again Luna, out of fear, snapped at her, “What do you think you are doing?!”

Trixie created four illusions around the room to throw off the Ursa, who was beginning to slow down due to its crippling leg wound around its ankle. With this moment of safety, Trixie shouted to her teacher with indignation, “I don’t need your help! Stay back!”

The Ursa Major began to rise again, largely ignoring the lightning that continued to strike it as a mere nuisance. Trixie, meanwhile, spoke back to her princess, “I am sick and tired of being looked down on! I’d rather die than lose everything again!”

Hearing it roar got Trixie to pull herself up, her voice raising to a very loud level as she turned from the Ursa Major to the Minor, “You better stay outta this!”

The Ursa finished turning to her just in time to receive an explosion of fireworks to its face, Trixie simultaneously yelling at the top of her lungs, “I AM PRINCESS LUNA’S APPRENTICE! I AM GOING TO BE THE STRONGEST MAGE EQUESTRIA HAS EVER SEEN! DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME!”

“I have not come this far to be stopped! I will not let my future be jeopardized by some mongrel!”

The younger bear had partially recovered from its previous defeat, now able to stand on four legs. Seeing its parent slain drove it to madness too, its eyes focused on the blue mare who had done the deed. It was seeing red, both literally with its own blood dripping down its forehead as well as figuratively with how rage swelled within it.

It prepared to charge and spring forward as Luna prepared to do the very same, “Trixie, watch out! Behind you!”

Despite the warning, Trixie had hit her limit. There was not an ounce of energy left in the apprentice as the cavern began to collapse around them all. Teleporting with its great strain was beyond her power, not to mention just plain walking.

Trixie knew she could not get out of the way of either the Ursa or the many falling pieces of the cavern ceiling, so she made no attempt to. With this moment she instead turned to her teacher with a sad smile.

“I’m sorry for letting you down…princess.”

Trixie snapped out of the dream and found that she was hyperventilating. Taking a moment to look at her hand, Trixie paused and realized that she was shaking.

Clenching her fists, Trixie raised her voice as she felt a power within her well up and begin pouring into her fatigued body all over.

“Enough!”

The Crusaders in the hallway were stunned as a shockwave of power emitted from Trixie, the excess energy she held bursting out violently given that she could not control it. It struck Kael and Lavitz as well, both of them getting out of its way the best they could since they more experience with Trixie’s latent power, while Vanessa had it go over her head since she had been knocked to the ground by the larger enemies whose strength bested her dexterity in these cramped quarters.

Feeling the power within her fade away, Trixie looked down again at a hand, “I…”

She wanted to say that she remembered everything…but that would be false. Even beyond the scene that had played out in her head, it felt as though a mental barrier keeping her memories away had been broken down.

“I remember…”

Trixie felt herself beginning to cry as she realized that, despite all her bold proclamations about being great…she was a failure where she came from.

“I’m just some washup magician who lost everything.”

Gripping her fists, Trixie’s breathing gradually grew deeper as she began to cry. Everyone else was beginning to recover, and none of the Crusaders were positioned to take advantage of this lapse in defense.

“I lost my home…I lost my reputation and job…I had nothing!” Trixie paused before shaking her head, tears dripping fully now, “My own mother cast me out as a child because I wasn’t good enough! I lived on scraps and whatever I could to live, to build myself up one step at a time, until I one day could stand on my own! But even then, I lost everything I had because of my own weakness! Because some moral crusaders came by and were so offended by mere boasting that it was worth my livelihood!”

“I suffered for so long. I tried taking revenge, and I only fell further...” Trixie brought a hand over her heart as the warmth from before returned, “But someone took pity on me and gave me a second chance…Because of her, I had the chance to live a life free of the pain I had always felt until then! Because of her, I learned and became a better person…”

Trixie glanced to where she could see Vanessa, then she looked down to the floor, unable to face anyone.

“So when I let her down, when I thought I lost her respect, I did something rash…” she grinned sadly as she remembered why she went to fight some of the land named Equestria’s most dangerous creatures, “I went out of my way to try and impress her with a supposedly impossible feat…I took on a threat far beyond my capabilities…”

“I nearly bled to death…I nearly had my body torn apart with each hit I could not dodge…” she gently felt the parts of her body that would translate to where her equine body had been so horribly wounded, “But in the end…”

Trixie looked up and saw Mograine recovering and beginning to push past Kael, his intent still being on slaying the traitorous Priest first to cut off the enemy’s stream of healing.

“In the end, she protected me! She fought to save my life even when I no longer wanted to keep living!” Trixie adopted a defensive stance in front of her newest ally, “After everything, even powerless at the time, she stood up and protected me…so I’ll do the same!”

Mograine lunged in a madness fueled tackle, which Trixie met with throwing her whole body forward with all its weight. While he may be far more powerful than her comrades physically, she still held the advantage of being a beast of a far greater strength than any average Human being.

Colliding with him and catching his fists as he tried to flail them forward, Trixie stared him right in the eye, “I know what it’s like to only think of yourself like you, Mograine!” she bashed her forehead forward and knocked him back to where Kael lay, who in turn tripped him by slamming the man’s shins with the butt of his weapon, “But where we’re different is that I care about the people around me! Perhaps I’m selfish for wanting them to be there for me, but I won’t let you harm them even if I can’t truly match up to your strength!”

Vanessa tried to keep Mograine down, but he kicked her aside and then Kael as well while his men finally managed to finish pulling themselves to their own feet after being knocked down. Vanessa’s explosives earlier had made standing back up quite difficult, as many of them could barely stand at all.

As Mograine clamored forward, Trixie twisted her body in the air and kicked him across the face with a strike that knocked him back again, “I lost everything, but now that I finally have a family again I won’t let you take it from me!”

Realizing that the straightforward approach would not work, Mograine tossed a hammer of Light at Trixie that caught her in the gut and slammed her into the far wall of the room. Using this opening, he rushed her and pinned her there. He then began to unleash a beating as savage as the one he had used on Karl, but all the while he slammed fist after fist into her she kept laughing despite all the pain.

“You stubborn bitch, die!”

He grabbed her by the head and slammed her into a bookshelf, her forehead bleeding as he used his other hand to grab Dirge, who had been trying to heal up the others during all of this.

“You think this hurts?” Trixie taunted, her mind still remembering the pain she had just been made privy of in her past. This physical beating was far better than the Ursas…and it sure beat years of emotional torment and suffering.

Kael reached a hand out towards Trixie as the recovered Crusaders pushed past him and the others, having forgotten them in favor of the woman who managed to actually push them all back, “Trixie…Stop it! You’ll die!”

Still grinning, Trixie kept it even as a punch struck across her face, “I’ve hit that brink before…If it means giving you all more time, I’ll go there again.”

“Quit talking!” Mograine growled as he wildly beat Trixie again and again, but despite his efforts she just kept laughing to his endless frustration.

Then the Crusaders who had just lined up at the edge of the room gasped, some crying in terror.

Mograine twisted around in confusion, letting go of Trixie and letting her fall to the floor, “What the hell?”

Having donned the clothing of the Scarlet Crusaders to make his way past them, a bloodied Karl who had survived the explosion of the armory had pushed past all the others with his crossbow in hand. He lifted it up to fire, but a Crusader in the hallway shot him first.

Fighting through the pain, Karl looked at Mograine with crazed eyes and took aim again.

“Kill him!” Mograine demanded, pushed to panic by the fact that the man he left to certain death had come back to kill him.

Three more bolts found their way in Karl’s back, but he continued to try and shoot Mograine…and with a quick flashing heal from Dirge, he managed to obtain the strength to do just that. Mograine howled as his lightly armored body was penetrated by a crossbow bolt just below the throat.

As Mograine howled in pain and Karl collapsed on the ground, Trixie began rising to her feet, “Something Vanessa said gave me an idea…”

Mograine twisted around as Trixie’s arms began to glow. She grabbed his arms and then used her remaining arcane energy to begin searing them, “You don’t need your arms to live, now do you?” smirking as she began to remember even more, Trixie jumped up and planted her feet on his chest, “I saw this in an anime once!”

The other Crusaders rushed back out into the hallway as their Commander was kicked back into them, one of his arms severed by magical energy and the other horribly wounded. He crashed into them, but they did not go too far back because the wall of Crusaders had recovered fully by healing one another and they were standing firm. Those in front, assuming they had won now, took the time to start healing Mograine instead of pushing forward while Dirge similarly finished healing his own allies. Vanessa, Lavitz, and Kael stood up and resumed their defensive positions, though Kael found himself distracted by a small creature about one to two feet long flying over the crowd and then hovering around his head.

“Na!”

Recognizing it as the rarely colored Mana Wyrm they had taken in before, Kael smirked, “Nana?”

Trixie’s eyes lit up, “Then that means…”

Despite a million things going wrong due to unforeseen circumstances, they had won.

Using the rapid speed he had used to introduce himself properly to Kael, Bronn rushed past the Crusaders and joined his comrades at the front, sword by Mograine’s throat.

“Aye, milady. Want me to finish the stupid cunt?”

Dirge did not understand what they were talking about or who this seeming mercenary was, so he continued to heal them as those in front fended off the Crusade. He’d ask them to explain it later he supposed, since it appeared that they were now confident.

“Bronn, help the others! Did you bring what I asked for?”

“Aye, milady. I am a bit faster than any group, so give them a second.”

A Crusader woman with white hair and a revealing outfit forced their way past the others and joined the Commander on the ground, hugging herself closely to him as her hands glowed with healing magic. Other Crusaders protected who Dirge recognized as Grand Inquisitor Whitemane, one of the Crusader’s most sadistic members, tending to the man she loved’s wounds, “Mograine!”

Her magic was far more powerful than that of the other healers present, and so Mograine sprung back to his feet quickly. Still missing an arm, his pale face was red with both blood and anger as he yelled at his subordinates, “Stay back! I’ll kill them all myself! I will not allow them to best me like this!”

This distracted his subordinates momentarily, and that moment proved useful, as the voice of a Paladin not belonging to the Scarlet Crusade then called out in the hallway.

“For his majesty, Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider!”

The Crusaders soon found themselves fighting enemies on two fronts as red and golden armored soldiers spilled forth into the hallway’s entrance. Leading those at the very front was an Elf with golden hair to match his golden heart, while right behind him a dark haired man led a small army of rangers in fine formation.

“Not as many soldiers as I would like, but what other option do I have at my disposal?” Reuenthal smirked to himself as his soldiers took their place in the long hallway, with Mitter’meyers Paladins and Warriors beginning to beat down any Crusaders in their path, having received orders not to kill any in the letter sent with Nana and Bronn to Silvermoon.

Once they were ready, Reuenthal threw a hand dramatically before him and shouted over all other noise in the hallway, “Force your way to the end of the corridor and occupy its length! Force them to fight from their cramped quarters, and seal the doors if possible! They may attack from either side, but they will do so without cohesion and order!”

Mitter’meyer bashed aside a half dozen Crusaders faster than any of them could act, and even his own soldiers had trouble keeping pace with him as he began to carve a path through their enemies.

“Do not give them reprieve! Charge forward and crush them before they can muster their forces!”

Trixie’s laughter returned as she walked over to Kael and gave him a tight hug from behind, followed by a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks for letting me use your authority, Prince. I told you my plan would work, didn’t I?” she laughed as she let go and watched as the Crusaders turned all their attention on stopping the Blood Elves swiftly forcing their way through their ranks, “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie…I may have had quite the setback in Equestria, but I think I’m off to a good start here in Azeroth!”

Author's Note

I do love setting stuff up way in advance...you have two military commanders fiercely loyal to you? Why not use them down the road to succeed at an impossible objective?

So many things went wrong for Trixie's crew, but her planning ahead led to what will be quite the crushing victory! As alluded to, Silvermoon had one third its soldiers revolt in favor of coming to the aid of the person they believe to be their true King, unlike the "fraud" who killed their friends and families. While this means Silvermoon is a bit vulnerable, they aren't under attack fortunately or in a position really to be attacked at present, so Trixie did this without feeling too guilty.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and I look forward to seeing your thoughts in the comments below!

Level 32: Why Don't You Take Over?

A/N: Many apologies for the time it took me to finish this. Real life has been really dragging me down and keeping me from doing even half the writing I want to be doing, but thankfully I'm getting back on my groove now. Been really difficult this past month in real life...

Hope you enjoy, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! This chapter is so chalk full of foreshadowing I hope that you guys catch some.

“Let me at them!”

Grand Inquisitor Whitemane tried grabbing her partner Mograine to stop him from assaulting their enemy, for while he still was alive he was still in no condition to carry on battling. His spirit may have been crushed, his pride humiliated, but his rage was carrying him forward towards those who had beaten him, disarmed him, and likely spelled the end of his upward climb within the Scarlet Crusade.

“Mograine—”

He pushed past her and swung his only remaining fist at Trixie, who sidestepped his wild strike and used a leg to trip him. Mograine’s momentum carried him forth into the far side of the room where a bookshelf lay, his head smashing into the books there and shaking the structure.

“I...I won’t be…”

He stumbled backwards as heavy tomes fell down upon him, but he was not given a moment to collect himself as his daze was soon interrupted by someone grabbing him by his hair.

“Oh, did you think I was done with you?” Trixie laughed, an action which preceded her using her strength to lift the man up by his hair and hurl him across the room so that he broke through another bookcase.

Kael kicked Mograine onto the floor and restrained the man, “Trixie, grab the one who can still pose a threat.”

As the echo of blades formed the white noise of the hallway, Trixie found herself faced with a white haired woman whose face was now like Mograine’s and filled with rage. Whitemane’s hands shined with holy light as she prepared to save her partner from Trixie and Kael.

“Begone, foul creature! Fall to the High Inquisitor of the Scarl—”

Where Whitemane attacked with her holy power there no longer was a silver-blue haired Elf. Whitemane gasped as she spun around to find Trixie, only to find a hand grabbing her throat and crushing it with inhuman strength.

Trixie smiled up at Whitemane as she continued to constrict the woman’s throat and ability to breath, for she was still working off the anger she felt at everything Mograine had done and this woman she now fought was trying to help that monster, “I have a problem I heard you can solve.”

Whitemane tried clawing at Trixie’s hands, only for Trixie to squeeze tighter in response. This caused the woman’s struggle to die down, her physical abilities not anywhere near the level of Mograine’s given her specialization as a wielder of the Light.

Seeing as how the wicked member of the Scarlet Crusade was at her mercy and thus she had her full attention, Trixie gestured to Mograine and twisted Whitemane around to see him writhing in pain as Kael finally forced him into unconsciousness with a powerful blow to the back of the head.

“You revive someone for me, a power I know you have, and this idiot can live. Despite everything he’s done to us.”

Trixie glanced over to where Dirge was healing the near mortally wounded Karl, whose stubbornness had actually improved Trixie’s opinion of him. Someone else who didn’t know when to quit? He would fit right in with them. Only, his brother was dead...which was why Trixie was striking this bargain. She had all the power at this point of the situation, but that did not mean she had to be heartless.

Whitemane tried freeing herself again, only to be swung at the door-frame and then have her body slacked from her hurt spine.

“Deal?”

Whitemane whimpered and nodded, prompting Trixie to drop her to the floor.

“All yours then. Kael, let her coddle him and do what she needs to make sure the idiot does not bleed to death.”

As the fighting died down and the victors became clear, Kael and Trixie found themselves looking at a hallway of saluting soldiers in the armor of Silvermoon. At the far end of the hallway overseeing the relocation of the defeated and unconscious Crusaders was Reuenthal, and now pushing through the crowded hallway was Mitter’meyer to approach his lord.

“Hail Lord Sunstrider!” the crowd said in unison, each Blood Elf in the hall saying it except for Kael and Trixie. While Kael was nervous and bashful about the sudden attention, Trixie snickered and nudged Kael’s side playfully. Kael started to look at her when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see that Lavitz was looking out at the crowd with pride. For a trained soldier, such a sight of organized troops likely was a beauty in and of itself.

“Your people have arrived, it appears. Quite the entrance too.”

Kael returned the physical gesture and thanked the Warrior who had seen to his protection each step of the way. Without Lavitz he would not have been able to fight Dathrohan, without him he would not have survived the battle in the Graveyard, the first encounter with Mograine, or the final charge of the Crusaders. The Stormwind Knight had done a great deal for them, just as he had helped in the Deadmines, “After today, I’d say you earned the right to call them yours too.”

The statement surprised Lavitz, who kept quiet because of how any response he could say there could be taken wrong by someone. Instead he just gave Kael a small smile before looking back at the crowd, leaving Kael to add, “I know you’re still loyal to Stormwind, but you’re always welcome with us.”

By this point one of the two officers in charge of the reinforcement army had crossed the hall and knelt down before Kael on one knee and showing further respect by inclining their body forward into a partial bow as well. Kael smiled at the “Gale Wolf” Mitter’meyer who had, with his great speed, come to their aid.

“My lord, Reuenthal is handling the post-battle mop up. As per your orders, we are doing our best to prevent any unnecessary casualties.”

Trying to appear regal despite how disheveled how unpracticed he was, Kael gave a small nod “Thank you, Mitter’meyer. You have done us a great service today.”

“Of course, your majesty. I will forever be in your debt for the day you saved my life. I will follow you to the earth’s end.”

“I am glad you are safe. When you fought Kargath…”

Kael’s voice trailed off as he thought back to the other Kae’s invasion of Silvermoon. Of the slaughter of civilians and guards alike for the sake of power. When he had to stop eating with friends to instead flee for his life and leave them behind to uncertain doom...

Mitter’meyer stood up and smiled at his Prince, “I am fine, my lord. So long as I fight alongside Reuenthal, no foe can stop me.”

“If your performance today is any indication, I must say I agree,” Kael laughed as he watched Whitemane and Mograine be led away by some of the Silvermoon forces present.

Mitter’meyer was about to respond when a Mana Wyrm that had been hovering around above all the fighting instead lowered itself to begin nestling itself into Trixie, and then Kael, and then Mitter’meyer himself, “Hey there Nana,” he laughed as the Wyrm brushed it soft scales over his face, “She was quite worried for you all. When your mercenary brought her, I used every bit of haste I could muster to follow your command, but she seemed even more impatient than I.”

Kael brought a hand out to touch the Wyrm and it responded in kind by putting its forehead up against his palm before taking another couple trips flying around Kael and then leaving to go see the other person it had grown close to during travel, that being Mitter’meyer’s partner Reuenthal.

As the Wyrm began to do its affectionate gesture towards Reuenthal, who mostly ignored the distraction as he continued to fulfill his duties in organizing all the soldiers and the post-battle situation. Kael smirked at the display, appreciating that he had such capable soldiers under his employ, “Quite the orderly fellow, isn’t he?”

“One of his redeeming qualities, my lord,” Mitter’meyer said in a partially joking tone, now also looking over at his best friend. While he may dislike his friend’s liberal sex life and lack of commitment, he still valued him for the genuine if odd bond the two vastly different men had formed.

After he finished looking Reuenthal over Mitter’meyer looked back to Kael only to find Kael wincing in pain, prompting the Paladin to take a step towards Kael worriedly, “My lord, are you alright?”

Kael smirked as he forced himself to remain stoic despite the pain he felt in his body from the day’s many battles. He had come into it all feeling deathly ill, and that was before he had to fight hordes of fanatics far stronger than him, or the undead, “Thanks to you. You came just in time.”

Beside him Trixie scoffed, having been ignored up until that point, “I’m fine too, thank you very much.”

As if just realizing she was there too, Mitter’meyer jumped back and gave a full bow as quickly as he could manage, “Lady Lulamoon, my apologies.”

Seeing him act so subservient to her too despite considering him an equal and friend made Trixie laugh in the manner of a noblewoman, “You don’t need to bow to me, but it is flattering. I’m not a Princess.”

“Nonetheless, I am pleased to see that you too are safe. I am surprised you two managed to make it this far on your own,” Mitter’meyer stated before realizing that it could sound insulting, “Not that I doubt your abilities, just…”

Kael stopped him from apologizing further with a hand, “We understand. It’s alright.”

Trixie slapped Lavitz on the back and added him to the conversation since she, like Kael, valued his service as how and why they were still alive at this point, in addition of course to their own contributions, “We have this guy to thank in part for getting this far.”

Mitter’meyer appeared surprised to see Lavitz, and needed no introductions before recognizing who the soldier was.

“Lavitz of Stormwind?”

Similarly, Lavitz recognized the Elf standing across him from reputation, “Mitter’meyer, the Gale Wolf, I presume?”

Mitter’meyer grinned brightly and held a hand out to shake as he realized his fortune in meeting a man he once thought he would have to fight, “It is an honor to meet a soldier of your caliber. If you do not mind me asking, why has a knight of Stormwind come to join my lord in battle?”

Lavitz took the other man’s hand and returned the smile, the blonde soldiers sharing a glance before looking at Kael, “Kael’thas saved my life, and given the rift between our people I hope to help mend things by following my father’s footsteps by serving the Sun King.”

Once the handshake ended Mitter’meyer shut his eyes in memory of a soldier he once knew, “Servi was a good man. I did not know him long, but it saddened me when I heard he fell in battle due to the treachery of the Alliance. Garithos deserved a thousand deaths for his folly.”

The thought of his late father gave Lavitz pause, causing the conversation to die down as Mitter’meyer knew not what to say beyond what he had. An idea did come to mind about how to change the topic however, and he dug into his bag to retrieve some parchment. Lavitz gave a confused look as he was handed it by the other soldier, who was grinning.

“Here, take this.”

Lavitz opened it to find extremely detailed cooking instructions befitting of a master chef, and Mitter’meyer proudly spoke as the other man looked them over, “My wife gave me some recipes for cooking, in case I would go hungry on my journey. I am no cook though, so perhaps you can pass them along to your mother and sister?”

Mitter’meyer didn’t catch Lavitz’s eyes grow sullen once again, for Lavitz also forced a smile that the other man did not recognize as a false once. Lavitz appreciated the gesture, but he could not do as Mitter’meyer wanted: only one of those two women still lived, a fact he had been grappling with these past hours for reasons he would never disclose with the others.

Still grateful, Lavitz slowly formed a real smile as he brought a hand out to touch the Elf’s shoulder respectfully, “My mother will appreciate this. Thank you,” he lowered his hand and sighed, realizing something about being given a gift: one generally should reciprocate, but he was wholly unprepared for that, “I am afraid I have nothing with me to give in return.”

“There will always be another occasion to exchange gifts,” Mitter’meyer winked. The two moved aside to continue their conversation and get to know one-another better while Kael and Trixie each watched them with some amusement.

“They seem to be getting along.”

Kael nodded to Trixie’s claim, “Perhaps there is some hope for us to mend fences, if two opposing soldiers can meet like this.”

Trixie smiled softly, “I would like that. It would be sad to have people fight who would otherwise be drinking companions.”

While Kael rolled his eyes at the way she brought her new hobby into things, he saw that Mitter’meyer had stepped back to whisper to him, “Please, give us your orders, my lord.”

Kael glanced around the hallway to see that now things were in complete order: the Crusaders were all relocated, and his troops now stood in rows saluting him. At the end of the corridor he was faced with Reuenthal, who stood like all the others saluting, and Kael found himself once again proud to have such loyal men under his command.

That did not mean, however, that he had a speech or anything planned for them. Or even really an idea of what to do from here, given that until just recently he was unconscious a lot and not very capable of rational thought.

Still, thinking on his feet, Kael tried to say something to the many men before him, “You all came from Silvermoon City to my aid when I needed you. For that, you have my eternal thanks, for today would not have been won if not for your loyalty and swift call to duty.”

Kael looked over to Lavitz, who stood by his side in a protective manner befitting of the bodyguard role he had assumed, “We stand here in the Scarlet Monastery because we were asked by the Regent of Stormwind to defeat the Crusaders here as a sign of goodwill. While the man Garithos once betrayed our kind, it is my hope that one day we do not have to fight our former allies.”

His allusion to the Human nation finished, Kael looked back to the crowd. He could sense an overwhelming aura emanating from them, an aura born of the magic each soldier possessed in their equipment and own power which was spilling out around them as they cooled down from their brief but decisive battle, “Now, returning to Silvermoon is not an option, not without sparking a civil war that will hurt our people, so we can only move forward. I can feel the power you all possess and it gives me faith that you can carry out a trying task I feel I must give to you.”

He had toyed with one idea awhile back, but he had not thought it would need to be used so soon...still, he had to do something, and so Kael quickly decided what he wanted to have this private army of his do...and what he wanted to do as well.

Reaching a hand out to them, Kael spoke as boldly as he could, “Go to Outland. Disrupt the operations of the false Lord Sunstrider and keep him from bringing our people to ruin with his reckless and vile actions,” he clenched his hand to signal his anger beyond what his tone could convey, “My goal is to one day reclaim the throne belonging to me by right of birth, but I do not intend for that to be it alone. I seek this power with my own hands and through my own blood. I have come to far to be stopped now, and if you will lend me your swords and strength, we can together save our people from the peril they face.”

Cheers rose from the crowd, and Kael took this as a sign that his men were keen on the goal he set forth, and so he continued on, “We are the Blood Elves. The Sin’dorei. Together we bleed, and with our blood we shall build the future for our people.”

Trixie noticed as Kael’s face began to sink into the expression it took before a sigh, and she shot him a worried glance that he did not notice thanks to his attention being glued in front of them.

“This task I ask of you will be one that I do not ask with an easy heart. We have all seen the power of our demon empowered foes, the brutality of our enemies…” he sighed for a moment before lifting his head up and once again clenching his fist, “But there is something I can do to make your efforts easier.”

The only person in the hallway able to ascertain what he meant before he said it was the woman by his side, who gave a sad smile as she realized life was about to get a whole lot more difficult. Still, if it meant she could be with her friends, with her partner...

“They seek my head. Bounty hunters have been hired to kill me. Criminals hired to kidnap my associates. If I follow you to the battlefield, the attention will be turned to you all as they seek to kill the rightful ruler,” Kael shook his head, “I will not join you in Outland. Not yet. I will instead divert their attention from you all, give you the opportunity to establish yourselves in there and begin our campaign against the false King. As they waste resources and time to find me, you will be able to seize ground, save lives, and prepare for my return.”

The crowd could not silence all of its gasps, but with a curt order from Reuenthal it managed to regain its composure soon enough for Kael to continue on speaking with the same bold determination as before in his voice.

“For, when I do come to Outland, it will be to finish things. We are not ready yet to wage a full blown war, but there are things I can yet do to tip the scale, and so I shall. Even if it means distracting them with my life, I shall.”

Kael’s speech once again hitting a lull, Mitter’meyer stepped forward and addressed his leader in concern.

“Sir, may I accompany you?”

Kael shook his head no and gave a big smile, “No, Mitter’meyer. Your place will be with Reuenthal and the others where you are needed most. Your commanding skills can best be used with the army we have with us,” he turned to his side where Trixie, Lavitz, and Dirge stood, “But I will not be alone. Joining us is Lavitz of Stormwind. If it was not for the aid of this great knight, I would not be standing here today.”

The knight saluted Kael, and cheers came from the crowd from the Blood Elves who respected the man for looking beyond the racial prejudices that had plagued their people. Because of his father’s service to Kael in the last war, Lavitz was a known figure to many of them even if he was not the highest ranked soldier of Stormwind.

Once that formal introduction was done, Kael looked to the woman he loved, Trixie, who he privately hoped to one day introduce as the Queen of those gathered before him. While unable to say as much then, he still wanted to make sure her deeds were acknowledged, as he owed her his life more than any other.

“Furthermore, this is my partner, Trixie Lulamoon. If you are to serve me first, you serve her second. It was her plot that allowed for a handful of warriors to capture this facility without spilling blood, and it is because of her we were able to coordinate with you all to manage this victory.”

Trixie blushed as an uproarious series of cheers thundered in the hall, the soldiers gathered enthused by the reveal that the woman beside him was not arm candy but rather a sharp minded woman who had handed them this military victory. In return for their warm reception Trixie gave them a polite bow, both happy about and embarrassed about her newfound fame.

As the voices died down Kael spoke up again, having roughly thought out the rest of what he wanted and needed to say. He brought his hands out to gesticulate in as grandiose a fashion as he could manage, “Our people have faced many a threat, have fought against impossible odds with the only goal being survival, but each time we have lived on. We shall not bow because some tyrant has stolen my mantle, we shall not allow him to end our struggle!”

After the next cheer, Kael shouted two names in the tone of a commander.

“Reuenthal, Mitter’meyer!”

The two men both snapped to attention, prompting Kael to give them their orders.

“You two are to lead the expedition in Outland. Today we prepare, and when the arrangements are made, you will leave with the speed I have come to expect of the Gale Wolf, and the coordination of Cunning Eagle!”

“My Lord!” both men called, accepting their given task.

This said, Kael once again addressed the entire crowd, his tone taking a more somber note, “You all have sacrificed much to be here, and I ask your forgiveness for asking you to sacrifice more. I promise though that your loyalty will be rewarded, not just in glory, but in the survival of our race! In the protection of our friends, our families, and your comrades in arms!”

He pumped an arm up in the air, “Glory to the Blood Elves!”

The crowd returned the gesture and began to chant.

“Hail Lord Sunstrider! Hail the Sun King!”

And, to the surprise of both Kael and Trixie, the chant began to include another verse to it.

“Hail Lady Lulamoon!”

It appeared that receiving Kael’s seal of approval along with the express order to respect her had instilled loyalty in those gathered, and neither Trixie nor Kael was about to complain when hearing their names chanted over and over.

In a nearby settlement, a man stood watching as another man was forcibly tied to the outside wall of his own house, next to where his wife and mother-in-law were similarly entangled. Holding a hunting knife in one hand, the auburn haired man looking at the three captives began to speak in a slow and deliberate voice.

“It has come to my attention that you are a member of the Scarlet Crusade, an organization whose presence here on the continent is sewing disorder by splitting the efforts of the Human race. Do you confess to this act of treason?”

The dark skinned man in the uniform of the Scarlet Crusade struggled as Aria finished tying him there, “Yes, I’m an interrogator for the Crusade! Please, don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt my family!”

The auburn haired man nodded once before bringing a hand up to his gaunt face, “It has also come to my attention that you are your family were harboring one of your sworn enemies, an Undead Forsaken being, to relentlessly torment him and cause him maximum suffering until he would lapse into true death again. Am I correct?”

“Yes! Please-” the man whimpered before a snap of his captor’s fingers had him struck across the face by a grinning Aria.

Speaking in an annoyed tone, Aria’s boss began to roll his r’s more than he normally did, “I care not for your sniveling. Now, answer this for me: has the Scarlet Monastery been disrupted in any way? Has it been attacked, invaded, or otherwise harassed?”

Interrogator Vishas of the Scarlet Crusade tried struggling in the bonds taken from his own house, from the Undead he had tied up, but it was useless given how they were meant to constrict movement just like an interrogator would wish for, “I heard that they were having trouble today with something…” he wracked his brain for more information, only to panic and cry out more when he realized that his captor was about to snap his fingers again, “But I was on sick leave! I had time to spend with my family! Please, don’t hurt us!”

“Tell me more or your life is forfeit as of this moment.”

“Something to do with a caravan I think! I heard some roaming Crusaders talking about it! Whatever’s happened, our garrison will have taken care of it! Now let me go! I answered all your questions! I don’t know any more!”

Having received what he wanted, the man in an olive-grey uniform turned around and began to walk in the direction of the Scarlet Monastery.

“Very well. Agent Two, you may fire when ready. Do be quick about it.”

Vishas screamed, his family trying to as well but their gags keeping them from doing so, “But you said-!”

The one in charge of the situation turned back halfway to give Vishas a cold glare, “I am a man of my word, but I never actually gave you my word I would forgive your crimes. You are far too trusting of your captors, while I am far less generous towards those who would sell out their kind while also shirking their duty to engage in pointless humiliation of a lesser creature.”

After a moment’s pause, he looked to Aria and gave her a nod.

“You may fire when ready.”

His back was turned when Vishas and his family screamed in agony as the mana in their bodies was ripped from them and then their lives were stripped as well from Aria’s potent magic. On his way out, he ran into the third member of their group, Jaina, who had just returned from a task he sent her on.

She was not happy.

“You send me to look for enemies, and I come back to find that you have killed three people!”

He rolled his eyes, “Hardly innocents, Lady Proudmoore. The Scarlet Crusade is your enemy as much as it is mine, and these cretins were vile criminals on top of their treason.”

Jaina gawked as he walked past her without heeding her complaint, though he did stop to look at her briefly and give her one last thought on the matter, “I do not care if you consider my methods harsh. You and I are seeking the same group. If you have grievances, voice them then. Until then, I will do what is necessary for our cause, and that includes eliminating any and all threats to those we seek to find as well as ourselves.”

As he continued on at a fast but not erratic pace to their destination, Jaina fumed and thought about what to do. She did not like either of her traveling companions, and they were little better than the people she stood against politically who brought the Horde and Alliance to blows time and time again. Still, they were on Kael’s track, and Jaina did feel an obligation to meet with him...and stop him, if need be.

Having finished eating and killing the morally bankrupt family, Aria caught up with Jaina and laughed at her irritated expression, “For such a hottie, you really know how to get your panties in a twist. We never said we were nice. Looking after ‘Huffer here and killing anyone who stands in our way is the reason I was let off parole.”

Jaina’s face twisted into a snarl as she realized just the sort of people she was working alongside, “For what reason would the Night Elves imprison one of their own?”

“From what I hear? Insulting a tree. But no, I’m not one of those forest hippies. I’m a Siren, I get people to do as I say and want, and I eat magic, magic I can steal from others just feeling everyday emotions…”

Aria leaned in close to Jaina to an uncomfortable proximity in the latter’s mind. As Jaina recoiled, Aria took a deep breath in and then smiled as a light aura of magic around Jaina disappeared.

“Such as fear. Not as tasty as others, like anger, but it does the trick.”

The disturbed Jaina was frozen as Aria walked by to catch up with her boss, with the purple skinned woman commenting to herself on the way, “I can’t wait until we meet up with Adagio. At least she’s just a know-it-all and not some would-be moralist.”

Jaina waited a moment before following them: just who had she joined forces with?

At the Monastery hours had gone by and things were wrapping up. There were many logistical issues to handle, and as the top ranking people present Kael and Trixie were expected to help oversee them. After all, it would look bad if they just had others do their jobs for them, even if the duo could hardly be faulted for wanting to take a rest after their long day.

One outstanding matter was finally being dealt with due to the concerning party having just awoken. Before Kael was a kneeling Karl, who appeared both infuriated at the world and himself.

“It was my failure that allowed Mograine to escape.”

Kael shook his head, “You were enraged by the death of your brother. I cannot, and will not, punish you for letting your emotions get the better of you. You will have the reward promised to you before, and you may part ways with us.”

With a nod, Kael had Trixie bring in a wobbling Tony, who had been revived by Whitemane as per their agreement. Because of her powerful connection with the Light she had done what few others could and revived someone from death without turning them Undead.

As Tony approached Karl and tapped his older brother on the shoulder, Kael continued speaking, “Though, if you wish to stay, you may accompany us as we travel Azeroth. We could use someone with your skillset,” he paused as he remembered that Karl once worked with the spy agency in Stormwind known as SI-7, “It would mean turning your back on Stormwind, though.”

After being shocked a moment by seeing his brother, Karl stood up and clenched his fist, “Fuck Wrynn. Fuck Stormwind...Vhere you go, I follow.”

The matter handled, Kael dismissed him, with the hired soldier quickly embracing his brother, who had agreed to join the expedition to Outland and serve as their technical adviser.

“Don’t you dare before me, Little Brother.”

Glad to see them reunited, Kael still had other matters to attend to and moved to see how Trixie was doing. They were in the main atrium at the front of the building, with their small army making every preparation to leave as soon as it could as well as make sure the present owners of the building did not stick around. It was this last matter that Trixie was brainstorming about when Kael came over to her.

“This base is going to be overrun by the Alliance when we leave I’d presume. It may be best if its present occupants are not here when that happens.”

“How do we handle so many prisoners though?” Kael asked, only to receive a shrug.

Trixie tried thinking of her memories from her past life to see if there was anything that could help, but she was still grappling with them and so she had little success, “Strip them of their weapons, for one, and two, is there any way to transport masses of people?”

Mitter’meyer, who had been helping Trixie, spoke up, “On land? Perhaps Zeppelins would work. Goblins run them around the continent, and they will work for gold, no questions asked.”

“Good. Have someone locate as many of these flying vehicles as needed and pay them with some of the gold we have acquired here,” Trixie ordered, glad that flying vehicles were not confined solely to her world now that she thought of them. As intended, they had looted the Crusade’s gold from their internal bank to keep them, or who came after them, from using it for nefarious purposes. Outside of that only limited looting was allowed, and it mainly came down to stripping the Crusade of their ability to fight so that they would be no threat to the Undead and would be forced to retreat from this region rather than stay and fight. Other stealing was not prohibited, as they were not barbaric thieves.

“As you command, Lady Lulamoon.”

Since Reuenthal had the organization for departure handled, that meant that their main duties were all done for the time being. Trixie used this time to go visit a sleeping teenager who she had been semi-hiding from the Blood Elves, lest someone somehow recognize the former thief named Vanessa VanCleef.

Kneeling down beside the unconscious girl, Trixie brushed the many strands of stray hair out of the teenager’s eyes, “Vanessa, you did so much for me…”

If it had not been for Vanessa’s determination to repay Trixie for her kindness, Trixie was quite sure they would have died due to Dathrohan’s unexpected appearance. Seeing Vanessa go through pain no child ought to just to protect her...Trixie felt a warm feeling she recognized now. It was similar to the one she felt around Kael, and to a lesser extent Lavitz, Reuenthal, and Mitter’meyer…

She cared about Vanessa, much like how she remembered her own adoptive mother taking care of her.

“Thank you. I think I know now what Princess Luna felt when…”

Her voice trailed off when she realized Vanessa couldn’t hear her. Still, she was really just saying it for herself, and so Trixie just smiled as she decided right then that whether Vanessa wanted it or not, she was a part of their family and Trixie would do what she could for her.

Kael had followed after Trixie once he made sure with Reuenthal that everything was being taken care of, and seeing her smile down at Vanessa made him remember why he cared about Trixie. Despite all her bluster and smugness, Trixie had a good heart...it just needed something to bring it out now and again.

“How is she?”

Trixie looked up at Kael, still having the warm smile gracing her face, “She’ll be alright. She just needed to sleep after everything that happened.”

“I take it she’ll be coming with us, Lavitz, Dirge, and Karl?” Kael asked. They had decided that, with another map granted by the meticulous Reuenthal, that they would go to a number of regions where ‘dungeons’ were that they could train in and basically draw the fake-Kael’s forces through to slow them down. A small army would have a harder time slipping past unfriendly areas, and if they fought that would slow them too.

“I’d hope so. She needs someone to keep her from giving in to her despair,” Trixie explained as she ran a hand across Vanessa’s forehead, where sweat had formed when she began to writhe in pain and fear in her sleep.

Kael patted Trixie on the head and rustled her hair affectionately, “You should get some rest too. It’s been a long day.”

Feeling a yawn coming on, Trixie stretched her arms out, “You’re right about that.”

Going to sleep...Trixie sighed as she realized that it would probably be a less than deep sleep, much like Vanessa’s. There was a lot on her mind, and if past nights had been any indication she would possibly have dreamwalking get in the way...

“Kael?”

“Hmmm?”

Trixie brought her own hand up to touch his atop her head. Feeling his touch made her feel more relaxed, despite all the painful memories that had flooded through her that day. She was too tired to deal with them at the present moment though, so that would have to wait.

“Can we talk tomorrow?”

Kael looked down with some concern, “Of course. Why?”

“I’ve remembered so much...I need someone to talk to about it…”

The pained, yet wistful voice he heard made Kael understand what she was alluding to, and so he nodded before kneeling down and hugging Trixie.

“Anything for you.”

Later that night, as Reuenthal and Mitter’meyer were organizing their forces in a nearby town, it was found that one of their soldiers had stolen and pillaged against the exact orders of their King. Given the quantity of what they stole and the direct orders given to not engage in such activities, military doctrine called for their capital punishment.

Reuenthal had his entire force lined up behind him as he stared down the offender, who had been tied to a post in the town square. The man struggled in his bonds as his half-Elf superior with mismatched eyes stared him down and prepared to enact the punishment personally rather than through a proxy.

“Today we captured a base, and tomorrow we’re going to go start a war to steal a nation! Why is it that a Prince can steal and I can’t? How is it any different for him to steal a country and me to steal some gold and treasure!?”

Reuenthal gripped his pistol tightly as the insubordinate soldier continued to yell.

“How is he any better than me!?”

Enraged that the man would dare compare himself to their prince after committing a crime for the sake of greed, Reuenthal lifted his gun up to point at the man dozens of yards away.

“Then why don’t you take over the nation!”

The gunshot echoed and left a silence in its wake despite how many were standing there vigilantly, though what was said by Reuenthal caught the troubled man off guard.

Why don’t you take over the nation...

If power and talent was what determined what was right and wrong…

Reuenthal shook his head. No. Down that path lay a dark road that he would not entertain.

None would notice his hesitation following the gunshot, but what transpired would weigh heavily on him in the time to come.

“Reuenthal?”

The man’s eyes opened up instantly at the sound of his name. Standing at the front steps of the Monastery alone in the middle of the night, Reuenthal had been waiting for the early hours of the morning they would be leaving in to finally rest. He was exhausted, but his troubled mind was keeping him from yet sleeping. He would need to be completely devoid of energy to sleep in this state, and so he had resigned himself to sleeping on the first leg of the journey while letting Mitter’meyer use his skills to lead them swiftly towards their destination.

Turning around, Reuenthal noticed Trixie standing behind him. How had she managed to sneak up on him like that? Was he so tired he could not hear her footsteps, footsteps he had previously noticed were stronger than they ought to be for someone of her size?

Not about to let his distracted mind and exhaustion keep him from common courtesy, Reuenthal stood up and bowed to her, “Yes, my Lady?”

Trixie gave him a sad glance, “Is something the matter? Having trouble sleeping?”

Reuenthal did not answer her question directly, instead averting his mismatched eyes to the side, “I was just thinking.”

“A wounded mind left to fester alone cannot heal,” Trixie moved beside him and brought a hand up to touch his shoulder supportively, “Believe me…”

He was taken aback by the gesture, as well as by how Trixie just sat down on the steps he had been sitting on himself before. Once seated, she sighed and looked up at him with a sad smile.

“To earn our trust, you divulged very personal information about yourself. Know that it did its part... ” Trixie explained, “I’m sorry about what you went through.”

Not knowing what to say back while remaining polite, Reuenthal just let Trixie speak as he slowly went about taking his own seat again.

Trixie hung her head as she began to once again sift through the memories that had flooded past her before. Before she had wanted to remember...now she wanted in many ways to forget.

“My mother threw me out when I was a young child. I didn’t have a father or anyone else,” Trixie shook her head, “I may not have been shackled in a nobility that might mock me for what I was, but nobody cared who I was.”

Still unsure what to say, Reuenthal still could feel himself growing pity for his superior who was returning the gesture he once gave her to earn her trust. Was she trying to do the same? “Lady Lulamoon…”

“I got my start, really, when I was fed by an…” Trixie wondered if the word Wonderbolt would even mean anything to someone of this world, so she instead substituted it with its description, “Aerial acrobat who took pity on me. In return I showed him some magic, and learned that I could use it to amuse rather than just to steal apples and bread.”

Trixie snapped her fingers and a small lightshow flickered before her before quickly dying down.

Once it was finished, Trixie spoke again, her tone still sullen but also growing to have some outright pain in it, “My second mother was my mentor, and while she was far more loving, she was a selfish person because of dark magic lingering in her. She hurt me even when she didn’t mean to, though she tried her best for me.”

Trixie looked up at Reuenthal as she tried to fight back tears stemming from everything she had remembered. She had yet to sit down and tell Kael everything, but letting out a piece of it now was easier than the whole thing...and she felt that the lonely man could use it.

“Reuenthal, I know what it’s like to suffer. And while I’m sure Mitter’meyer is a great friend, he isn’t like either of us. He doesn’t know the pain we do because his life is so nice, so…normal,” Trixie poked at Reuenthal’s chest, “If I’m right in my suspicions, you keep your pain locked away even from him so you don’t disturb the beacon of happiness that is your best friend.”

Reuenthal sighed and hung his head as he realized that, as much as he did not want to admit it, the woman had pointed out something about him he knew to be true even if he had never thought about it, “You are a sharp woman.”

“Thank you. I try,” Trixie responded with a small laugh, her smug nature returning.

Given that she had just given him a personal piece of information to help him out with whatever was biting as his mind, Reuenthal felt obligated to show his gratitude, but he did not know how. He was unused to interacting with women he had no intention in bedding or giving orders, so his leader’s partner being kind to him in a friendly manner left him quite disarmed.

Hesitantly, Reuenthal spoke while not looking directly at Trixie, “I...I am stoic by nature. I do not tend to share my feelings or what have you,” After a small pause, he looked over to Trixie and smiled, “But...I appreciate the gesture.”

Trixie brought a hand up to his shoulder again and gave him a smile despite the weight her memories were bearing down on her, “You may be a pledged soldier beneath Kael, but don’t think you aren’t our friend too.”

She stood up, using his shoulder partially as an aid to do so, but once upright Trixie looked at him again and reaffirmed her smile, wiping away any traces of her pain.

“You’re not alone. Kael...Lavitz...Karl...Me...We’ve each dealt with our share of broken hearts and souls. It’s important to have those like Mitter’meyer to aspire to be like, to want to protect and enjoy the company of, but it’s the broken birds like us that need each other the most.”

Reuenthal closed his eyes as he contemplated what she was saying, “Shrewd words from a woman wise beyond her years.”

Trixie turned around and gave one last pat to her new friend’s shoulder before starting on her way to go back inside. She had woken up from a nightmare and needed to cool off when she found that someone else was doing something similar, “I need to rest again. Have a good night, Reuenthal. I hope you understand what it is I am saying. If you ever need an ear, I’m here for you. Just in case it’s a breach of station to talk to Kael.”

Once she was gone, Reuenthal looked up at the stars above him. Stars that he wished in his wild ambition to touch and reach.

While he was still dealing with the feelings he had resulting from what he said to the executed soldier, he felt some comfort knowing that someone for once other than Mitter’meyer actually cared in any form for him.

“That woman…”

He smiled to himself devilishly as he realized that merely calling her a woman was incorrect. She was more than that: she was the one he one day hoped to see beside Kael’thas Sunstrider leading their people.

“No. My Queen is more correct. Prince Kael’thas would be foolish to take any other, and if the betting pool is any indication we all are aware of this.”

Having spoken to a friend that night who understood the type of heavy emotions and conflict he knew so well, Reuenthal found it easy to drift off to sleep finally, his mind less cluttered with the dark thoughts that tried then to plague it.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Sorry again for the delay, and I hope at least a tenth of the foreshadowing has been caught by you guys!

Rest Experience 7: Campers Aren't Welcome

A/N: My many apologies for my many month absence. I must admit there are a variety of things that fed into it, but I think now I am past most of them.

To start, there are the basics of having multiple jobs, schoolwork, and facing illness constantly that have kept me from writing much at all, but that honestly is not all of it.

If I am to be honest, this site killed its charm for me over the past year, a major aspect of why it has been difficult to write. To explain what I mean, picture this: seconds after you upload a chapter you have two new dislikes. Nobody could have read your story in that time, and someone saw fit to downvote it and forever mark it in a way people will take notice to. In and of itself this may not be bad, but when every week, every chapter you upload this happens, seeing your dislikes increase due to people who aren't even reading your story and are either prejudging it or just doing it for some other trollish reason, it is hard to get excited about updating a new chapter since in doing so you actually will be harming your story.

Case and point, over a few weeks and chapters I doubled the amount of dislikes on this story in this manner. I updated, got near instantaneous hate while I was on the front page (featured and all), and now when I update I don't get on the front page anymore. My ratio has been damaged so much that something I once took pride in no longer happens. Seeing myself on the front page really helped motivate myself since it made me feel validated, especially since it allowed me to bring in new readers. Now, I don't get on the front page due to the actions of these people, and there is nothing I can do about it. Publish more chapters? Get punished by people who seek to just downvote for the seeming hell of it. Publish a new story? Have a brigade of people downvote it who even admit to having not read it. Try to publish another new story? Have a moderator not like the speaking quirk of a character who is robotic and not allow it to be published.

I thought we Bronies were all about Love and Tolerance, but all of my recent experiences have been with our more vile members who basically drive me away from the community. Not helping is that I have not been a fan of this most recent season, meaning instead of being inspired each Saturday I don't even tune in anymore.

The only reason I've tried at all to do anything these past few months, albeit failing until now, is because I care about you all though. You readers and commenters help a lot, and are the reason my writing muse hasn't been killed off entirely. I have felt so guilty about not updating for you that I have continually tried to put something together, but part of the problem is one of the upcoming chapters (which I have pushed back to being after this chapter or the next) is gigantic. As in, dialogue alone is about 4,000 words meaning the final product will likely be around 10,000-15,000. Hard when already barely hanging in there to finish something like that.

So instead I am giving us all this smaller chapter to ease myself back in. I am so sorry about the wait, but I felt the need to inform you all about why this has been the case. I have honestly been trying, it just has been difficult for me and I am sorry to have not been able to create more content for you. I am back now, though only time will tell if I once again face the slow week to week drain of being punished by people who don't even read my stories.

Sunset seemed to come early the first day of Trixie's travel after they left the Monastery, their destination being to the East in a territory known as the Western Plaguelands (to differentiate it from other Plaguelands, of course). There were Scourge, Scarlet Crusaders, and many other things they could deal with there according to Reuenthal, though Trixie's mind was set on going to a place known as Scholomance in a ruins located there known as Caer Darrow. Inside she heard there were Necromancers, mages, and other magic users who she intended to steal from after defeating their Scourge army. A rumor that they were currently experimenting on extracting power from dead dragons to fuel their Undead army also caught her interest, as Trixie liked the idea of harnessing said power for herself...or saving the dragons, if they happened to be alive.

Preferably the first though, if she was being honest to herself. After all, the dragons were probably already dead, right?

She was feeling arrogant and powerful after settling into the memories she recovered during the siege on the Monastery, for with them came techniques and magical arts she had not previously even known could be done. She kept this hidden to the others, however, as she had yet to put the "new" magic to the test. She did not wish to boast this time before knowing she could pull off the arcane techniques in her mind.

While not naturally possessing the power to use these techniques liberally, she was aware now of the power hidden within her that was separate to her own. If she could tap into it, she could harness techniques that she was sure could match even those of that Grand Crusader Dathrohan they defeated. A man whose weapon happened to have been looted by their group's new Priest healer...who kept making sure everyone knew he wasn't specialized in healing. But still, being able to mend some wounds was better than having no-one capable of doing so, right?

"So, you're not really a healer, right?"

Sitting around a campfire set up to keep them warm in the cold night's air, the group of two Elves, their Stormwind Knight Lavitz, former criminal Vanessa VanCleef, hired muscle Karl, and most recent joiner Priest Dirge wound down as they prepared to sleep for the night. They agreed to watch the night in shifts to keep those with ill intent away, though all were awake for the moment. Their bodies still ached from the intense battles and did not seem to improve any more with pure healing, so taking time to rest was necessary.

The Human man with some Elvish features shook his head to Trixie's question, "No, not truly. It is not where my talents lay, but I can do basics and patch up certain wounds."

"What are you good for then?" Vanessa snorted. She did not trust having a former Scarlet Crusader among them, for unlike her he had betrayed his allies while she had come to join them after losing her own comrades and to repay a debt she felt she owed her former enemies. Still, he had been nothing but polite so she could not previously voice much of her discontent, so now she opened up with a way of demeaning him.

Dirge took it in stride and formed what appeared to be a ball of swirling shadows in his hand, "Some might call it dark or shadow magic," with the flick of his wrist it disappeared completely, "One does not have to be evil or bad to use it, but it is an...inhumane way of doing battle. The Scarlet Crusade uses Shadow Priests and their ilk to torture their captives, almost always to death and only sometimes for an actual reason."

Trixie frowned, beginning to feel validated in her defeat of this most recent enemy beyond what she already knew, "How did the Crusade come to be such a horrible organization?"

"It had noble beginnings, being a brotherhood of Paladins, Priests, and other servants of the Light who would fight against the tide of Undead rising in our land thanks to the actions of the traitor Prince Arthas. With time however our nobler members have died off or left us, leaving us with fanatics who draw no boundary between types of Undead," Dirge explained knowledgeably. It made sense he would know the history of the group after all, given that until a day ago he was one of them.

"That man we defeated, Dathrohan, he was the Grand Crusader, correct?"

Dirge nodded, being wholly familiar with the Grand Crusader, "He and Br-Lady Abbendis are the leaders of our organization. Following the death of her father, Abbendis has become a radical element who would see every Undead being slain, be they Scourge or the more sapient ones led by Sylvanas Windrunner after she broke free of the Scourge's hold on her."

Trixie continued to piece together the situation based off what she had heard elsewhere by then, "She died fighting against the Scourge I think."

"Yes, and to torment her Arthas, now known as the Lich King, brought her back as one of the beings she had died to protect her people from. Unlike some who enjoy this new lease on life, she appears to resent the cursed existence she now lives, though she also seems fearful of returning to whatever Hell existed for her after death."

Trixie averted her eyes, a memory of a place many would call Hel dancing through her head, "I would not want to either."

Beside her, Kael shrugged in indifference, "If my time comes, I suppose there will not be much I can do, but I do not intend to go before my time."

"You're not allowed to die. I won't allow that," Trixie replied with a small punch to his shoulder, which she followed up by pulling herself in close to him. Lavitz smirked and Karl gave a positive grunt as the man in red was wearing his cheeks like his clothing.

Unlike the two adults who were in-on the betting pool concerning the Elves, Vanessa was actually ignorant of what Kael and Trixie were at this point. She had seen just how close the two were, doing things and acting like she remembered married couples doing, so she thought to clear up the ambiguity presented before her, "So, are you two..." she looked down away, embarrassed by her own question, "You know...involved?"

Trixie rose her brow in confusion as she continued to hold Kael's arm and kept her position up against him, "Kael is my partner. We wake up together, spend our days together, and go to bed with one another. If that classifies as 'involved', then yes we are."

Kael closed his eyes as he fought to keep exasperation from his voice. Just how sheltered was his partner that she had this little experience with normal relationships? "I think she meant if we were dating."

"Oh," Trixie thought for a moment. Would she mind being Kael's girlfriend? She had a feeling the answer would be no, but at the same time she didn't exactly want to deal with relationship drama and the like. Things were fine right now, right? No need to deal with kissing and holding hands and jealousy and babies right now, "No, though I doubt much would be different if we were now that I think of it. I haven't had a boyfriend before. Haven't had too many friends either..."

Spiriting her thoughts away, Trixie noticed Vanessa still appeared bashful and nervous, so she decided to tease her slightly with a wink.

"Why, do we appear to be a couple?"

Kael found himself fortunate to have noticed that their fire was dying, and that the forest clearing they were in did not have much in the way of keeping it going. As a result he stood up and drew attention to it so he could be done with the conversation that was making his face run red.

"Great. The fire is dying, and this clearing does not have much to use to kindle it," he looked to Lavitz and Karl, who were the other two largest members of the group, "Mind helping me?"

The two men wordlessly accepted, though it was obvious to every single person except Trixie that Kael was subverting the discussion at hand. Instead, she looked at the fire and thought about how nice it looked...especially compared to the literally chilling flood of thoughts she now had mixed in with her new ones.

"Vhen vill you date girl?"

As they gathered wood a few hundred feet away from the camp, Kael turned to face Karl who was not even bothering picking up any wood. The man understood why they actually broke away from the main group, but had no desire to pretend to go along with Kael's disguised reason for doing so now that they were out of sight.

Kael picked up some branches that would be usable as he looked to Karl, "Trixie?" he began to break off extraneous pieces that would make carrying them difficult, "When she is ready to admit our relationship is anything but platonic."

Lavitz, who was being helpful and also picking up fuel for the fire despite knowing Kael's reason for doing this was only half-true, chimed in as a stick in his arms slipped and poked his armor, "We'll be dead before that happens at this rate. Anything we can do to expedite things?"

Kael could not believe the metaphorical mutiny he was facing. When would he be left alone to do as he pleased? Wasn't he technically the one in charge, yet here he had his partners all trying to get him to get in a relationship with someone against his own will, "I doubt many other princes are harangued by their soldiers about who they should and should not become romantically involved with and when to do so."

"Should try direct approach. Kiss girl," Karl suggested.

The terse man with an attitude did not strike Kael as a ladykiller, though that may have had to do with the fact that the man looked like a clone of himself if he were a Human being. Kael did not imagine himself as successful with women if he just was a bit rougher around the edges, "What do you know of wooing women?"

"Former secret agent. Honey trap viable solution to big problem."

So the former spy slept with people...and then killed them or otherwise dealt with them as a threat. Wonderful. At least back then Karl was allegedly a good guy who he ought ton have been dealing with bad people.

"Oh, right. Why did you leave SI-7 anyways?"

Lavitz turned around to face Karl as Kael asked the other Human this, being quite curious himself. After all, Karl was a former citizen of Stormwind just like him...though he had no idea where that accent came from.

"Brother was on zheir hit list for supplying Defias with Stormwind resources and technology taken from corrupt Noble. Left Nobleman's head as resignation letter."

Simple, yet brutal. Kael had a feeling that a lot of what he could ask Karl would have similar results. Staying on the man's good side would be important, especially as Karl had proven himself the toughest physically on their team during the siege despite being a ranged combatant. He had after all faced Mograine by himself and nearly won through sheer endurance, so it made sense to Kael that this indeed was a former spy/assassin.

Lavitz shook his head and sighed, "I remember hearing about some kind of commotion like that. Fortunately we are allies now or I would have to bring you in to face justice for your crimes."

Having seemingly not cared that Lavitz was speaking, Karl had turned his attention off to one side where he would soon point a finger.

"Enemies."

Kael reached for his sword only to realize he had not remembered to grab it in his frustration. Karl, who had been the one who would be first on guard duty with Lavitz, had his crossbow with him, and Lavitz had brought his own spear leaving Kael as the only one without a weapon. They had a large bag of stolen weapons and loot from their invasion of the base, having taken what would assist them in leaving this dangerous territory and nothing more, but that was useless at this moment for Kael which irritated him.

Observing the half dozen figures in the distance, Lavitz drew his spear and sighed, "Undead. If they leave and report us to their superiors, we may have an army bearing down on us before the night is through."

"What is dead can die again," Karl noted as he pulled the trigger on his weapon. A moment later, one of the Undead lost an arm as its shoulder was pinned to a tree by the bolt.

The others drew their weapons and rushed forth, their rotting flesh barely covering decrepit bones that only held together with the aid of twisted magic.

"For Sylvanas!"

Realizing he would have to wield magic in this encounter, Kael prepared himself to launch the largest fireball he could: he had no idea just what level of strength these enemies were, and he would rather ask forgiveness later if he happened to slay what were technically allies to the Blood Elves instead of dying at their hands. He would indeed not go out before his time, for he had a good few thousand years he intended to live...with a certain clueless silver-blue haired Elf if possible.

As Lavitz moved forward to block and intercept the Undead beings with their rotting flesh, yet a glow to their eyes that belied intelligent thought unlike those at the Monastery, Kael saw that one of the ones charging at them stopped as they saw and recognized him.

"Kael'thas?"

Kael blasted away the closest Undead soldier, his attack charring their armor and knocking them down without really cutting into their flesh. This first volley completed, he prepared another attack but held it at bay to answer this particular enemy's question with one of his own.

"Do I know you?"

The former Human growled as he hurled himself at Kael, "You killed me when resisting Garithos's forces! Now I will make you pay for-"

At the mention of Garithos, the man who caused the death of his father, Lavitz twisted in place from his encounter with the other Undead and speared this one through the torso, piercing armor and flesh both. As he did this he landed a kick against the gut of another, then spun on his one planted foot to swing the impaled former soldier of Garithos into the other Undead.

Kael blasted away the last standing enemy as Karl instantly set upon those on the ground and began to bind and tie them up to remove them as threats. While brutal, he had come to accept that his leaders did not wish to slay others when possible, something he would abide until it at all threatened to cause their own deaths.

The former Garithos soldier tried to remove himself from where he lay on the ground, howling in pain as he thrashed about. Kael watched him with some pity, but kept himself from caring too much given that this man still appeared to be the bigot he had been in life. How ironic that now he was cursed with living as a member of the Undead...if only Garithos himself could be so cursed.

"You are alive, in a manner of speaking, so I will spare you this time."

Kael sighed as he realized that, in order to get away from an awkward conversation he had just had a minor battle. Why were these Undead even here though? This was their territory, but didn't they have anything better to do?

At the camp, Dirge noticed something of his own as he sat on the log they had moved to be by the fire, "I see a few fleeing Scarlet Crusaders. I should take care of them, lest they draw attention to us. This is still the territory of the Forsaken, and I do not believe our varied party will be very welcomed by them."

Trixie called after the man as he stood to deal with the problem. She trusted that he would win the encounter but was less trusting in their newest member's ability to not kill people, "Remember, no killing!"

Now alone with just their youngest member, Trixie decided to get up and sit down next to Vanessa, who spent most her time sharpening her blades or curling up in a ball and avoiding all socialization.

In an attempt to get her attention, Trixie prodded the girl's shoulder gently, "Vanessa."

Vanessa did not say anything, but she did glance up at Trixie. When she realized she was being smiled at Vanessa looked away, once again bashful. Despite this Trixie kept talking to her, letting the girl know once more that she was appreciated.

"Thank you. If you hadn't helped us, I don't think we could have made it through the Monastery."

Vanessa kept her own eyes away from Trixie's, still uncomfortable with being around someone who had forgiven her of so much, "I owed you, and now I've repaid you. That's all there is to it."

Trixie sighed, understanding what it must have been like for her own mentor to deal with her once upon a time: a young girl with little in the way of normal social skills who had a lot of emotional baggage with her. It was obvious to Trixie though that despite Vanessa's claimed indifference that she cared about the people she now found herself with.

"I was lonely and standoffish once too, you know. I grew up alone after all," alone was a nice way of putting 'grew up on the streets', but Trixie didn't want to depress the teenager. She looked ahead at the fire and sighed, "Back then I thought it would keep me from the pain, but I realized later that it had been killing me day by day. That I may have given up hope without the people who gave me a family."

A family she still had trouble remembering given the brevity of her time with it in her memories...but a family all the same. Perhaps when more of her mind returned to her there would be more for her to rejoice over. She hoped there was more than she remembered of Luna...of the foreign man from another world they had taken in who could do so much...and who went through Hel with her.

Come to think of it, Trixie wondered, she was not of this land herself...perhaps her memories of a displaced God had something to do with her current location?

"I have no hope," Vanessa stated with complete sincerity, having lost everyone and everything she had cared about prior to now save a single pet. Hearing this, Trixie put her arm around the girl and brought her into a hug that Vanessa did not resist, "Not anymore."

"As befitting of a low class cutthroat whose only aspirations are to thieve and kill."

Trixie and Vanessa both jumped to their feet at the sound of a third, new voice not belonging to any of their companions: only to come face to face with an arrow drawn and ready to fire.

"Master Engineer Telonicus, report."

"I apologize my Lord, but our agents have failed to defeat the Pretender."

"After all the technology and aid you granted those fools, you would think they could have accomplished their simple task. What of the Sunwell?"

"She continues to travel with the Pretender, my Lord. They have just brought the Scarlet Monastery to heel under a rogue force of Blood Elves."

"Master Engineer, I gave you what I believed to be a simple task: kill a man pretending to be me, and capture his weak little friend. Easy group to find. Man who looks just like me. Woman who makes a spectacle of herself wherever she goes. And yet now they have risen from barely handling bandits to defeating Scarlet Crusaders. One must wonder, what use do I have for someone who fails so miserably at confronting and defeating them that they come from it stronger than before and now wield an army."

"They have had help, my Lord!...And they remain isolated. The army marches on Outland!"

"Very well, Telonicus. We will deal with the coming fools. You had best bring me that man's head, Master Engineer. Don't let them slip from our grip again, or there will be consequences. I had better not hear that they manage to escape you once more, lest I believe you are being distracted by that woman's bosom and hips. Thrice now is it you have lost them? Now begone. I have matters to attend, but remember: I want those Elves."

Author's Note

Hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Long time no see!

Side Chapter 2: Mouar Than Meets the Eye

A/N: Special thanks to those who commented last chapter. Your support is very much appreciated, especially considering the A/N last time. We're back in full swing now, and I will be updating roughly every 1.5 weeks.

Hope you enjoy this second offshoot chapter that shows a bit more about characters other than our main protagonists, and I look forward to your thoughts in the comments below!

“Slay every last living being inside the walls! Do not let them escape!”

Varimathras spoke in the deep voice of a Dreadlord to the amassed army of Sylvanas's Forsaken, the Undead who possessed free will unlike the mindless hordes commanded by Arthas's Scourge. Standing in her place at the moment, he ushered the Undead forth to burst in and wipe out their foes to gain control of the structure before the Alliance could take the weakened stronghold for themselves.

It would be a slaughter, and the thought brought a small smile to Varimathras' face as he thought about his collusion with the Grand Crusader Dathrohan to thin the herd somewhat. Getting the opportunity to both help his brother Balnazzar and also please Sylvanas in the same action? Varimathras could not picture a more pleasant encounter with his enemies that it would grant him favor with two opposed factions.

Turning to his side, where a newly arrived figure stood as their forces ran forth, Varimathras curbed his enthusiasm for the coming bloodshed against the unarmed Scarlet Crusade to more seriously address his aide, “Grand Apothecary, do you have the formula completed?”

Putress, the crouched over Undead with a black cloak covering his body, held up a small flask to show his master, "Yes, we just finished our most recent plague thanks to the aid you have granted us..."

Trusting his loyal minion to have done his job well, and having seen some initial test results, Varimathras resumed the smug expression he had worn upon seeing the first Undead clash up against the fleeing Crusaders, “Good. Lady Sylvanas will appreciate the irony of turning our enemies into our loyal minions…Loyal to he who binds them to their will first, until Undeath becomes Death.”

There were some Crusaders who were too stubborn to admit defeat and accept their fate that were causing a battle by the front gate, by chance stalling for those who were trying to flee be it on foot or by the flying craft they had acquired somehow that those greedy Goblins would use.

With the Monastery being stocked with a small army worth of Crusaders, the portion of those willing to fight to the death despite being wounded, unarmed, or any other assortment of issues resulting from their recent defeat was still quite sizable. Even ambushing them, there would be untold bloodshed...just as the Dreadlord would have it. It would appear too suspicious if he won too easily, and except for the Apothecary and Putress' ilk none of those who would do battle were even his own troops...they belonged to Sylvanas, not him. What should he care if they were defeated?

One of the Crusaders blindly attacking their invaders was a man followed by a pack of hounds, the man shirtless and pantless as he urged them forward in his underpants.

“Unleash the hounds!”

He had come out of a hidden entrance to the Monastery, something which Varimathras noted, and happened to be close to where Varimathras himself was standing and watching the battle unfold. Irritated by the man's presence, Varimathras swiflty strode to the far smaller being, idly slaying the man's beasts with a rain of fire magic.

The man's dogs dead, Varimathras had no trouble grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air. The man struggled up until Varimathras' demonic claws tore into his abdomen and the Human was swiftly tossed to the ground. Blood pouring from his body and mouth, he tried to pull himself back up to his feet.

“I bleed…”

Varimathras did not let him finish whatever he had been intending to say, instead stomping brutally down on the man's back and ending his life. He could enjoy torture at times, but he did not deem such a pathetic soul worth such effort.

“Pathetic.”

Pointing some of his army towards the newly discovered entrance, Varimathras commanded them forward once more.

“Dathrohan should have left by now, so there is no danger here. Carry forward! Use every entrance you find and slay every last Human you find!”

Inside the fortress, one Crusader was waking up from his various injuries suffered at the hands of not only the invaders, but from his commanding officer Mograine. Waking up with a splitting headache, an aching body that was bereft of physical trauma now but still was sore from where injuries had been suffered, and absolutely no idea what was going on, Jerid was confused as to why other Crusaders were retreating from the temple and fleeing across the courtyard for their lives.

Despite not knowing why they were all fleeing, Jerid still wanted to get up and follow them given that if they were all running, he probably should be too since the Crusade was not known for its cowardice. He attempted to rise to his feet to follow them, but halfway up his aching body refused to act as he intended and he crumpled to the floor of the temple. Despite him reaching out towards his allies and calling for them, none stopped or even turned back to face him.

“Hey, wait!”

Fighting through the pain he felt, Jerid slowly rose up again in agony. What was going on? Why was everyone abandoning the Monastery? Why were they abandoning him and the few others in the temple who were unconscious?

Regretful that he did not have his friend there to explain it to him, or to help him, Jerid began to trudge along towards the exit as he eased into the current status of his body, “If only Kacricon were here…”

He wasn't though...that girl had slain him...that unscrupulous thief belonging to the Defias Brotherhood, if her mask meant what he thought it did. Kacricon was dead...Lila was dead...the pain he felt from his former wounds that must have been healed as he lay unconscious did not at all compare to what he felt from losing some of the only people he cared about.

On his way towards the exit of the temple, Jerid noticed that the hood-wearing healer was trying to wake up some unconscious Crusaders to little success. Upon realizing that they would not wake from the damage caused to them through some unknown means after the invaders left, the healer stood and prepared to leave as well.

Seeing an opportunity to learn about the situation, Jerid decided to ask the helpful woman concerning the matter, “What’s going on?”

She shook her concealed head, “The temple was destroyed, but I do not know by whom…” looking around, Jerid could see that many parts had collapsed behind where he had woken up. No wonder he had been in so much pain on top of everything else, he had likely been dug out of a collapsed room along with the others, “I healed your wounds while you were unconscious. Your body was close to death and needed to rest even after I removed the lasting damage.”

Still not knowing why everyone was running, Jerid pressed further in his pursuit for information.

“Why is everyone evacuating?”

“Our army is crippled, and the forces of the Undead are on their way. If we stay too long…”

Jerid went silent as he realized what she meant. They were going to lose the Monastery...they were going to have to lose one of their major fortresses thanks to the meddling of some third party interlopers.

Noticing next that the healer was barely able to stand on her own, likely tired from trying to heal everyone she could, Jerid offered the older woman an arm and shoulder.

“Here, I’ll lend a hand.”

It would slow him down, but he felt indebted to some degree to the person who healed him enough to wake up and actually escape. His first priority was of course himself, but he would bring her along with him if he could.

She accepted his aid and the two began to trudge along to the exit of the temple, then across the now completely abandoned field that would normally be filled with training Crusaders. Upon reaching the end of the courtyard's many steps down to its lower section, Jerid saw the only other person to have remained...but who was unable to retreat.

“Lila…”

He moved to pick up her body, but a serious voice to his side stopped him in his tracks.

“There’s no time…She wouldn’t want you to die too, would she?” the healer warned.

“I know, but…”

Jerid did not want to leave Lila behind for the Undead to desecrate, but he knew that if he stopped to carry her with him he would likely be dooming himself along with her to the enemy.

"Hey, here's some more!"

Jerid looked up to see in the hallway they had been heading towards a large group of Undead soldiers armed to the teeth and all looking ready to put their weapons to use.

Of all the weapons confiscated, Lila's sword had not been one of them, and so as the Undead emerged from the hallway and filed out into the courtyard Jerid drew the blade and grit his teeth. If they were going to escape, they would have to do so by going through these Undead.

"A Paladin and Priest, eh? Kill the man, we'll force the woman to heal our wounds before we slay her too. That corpse over there should be good one on top of these two for Lady Sylvanas!"

The speaker lost their jaw and an arm as an infuriated Jerid cleaved through them at the mention of Lila's corpse, his fury not having been sated given his inability so far to take any form of revenge. This sudden lurch forward and strike was enough of a surprise to the Undead who were used to not receiving any real resistance so far that they had let their guard down. Twisting around, Jerid built up enough momentum that his next swing knocked three more off their rotted feet.

Behind him, the healer watched the Paladin fight not only for his life but in the memory of someone he had cared for. Some of the most dangerous Paladins were those whose desire for retribution would overpower those they fought, but it was unfortunate to her to see someone so young to be so utterly consumed by rage that they could only release it by burying their blade in the flesh of their enemies. The same urge to take vengeance could fuel a Paladin to walk a more righteous path to protect others, something she had believed would be fitting for the young man when she first realized there was more to him than his smug attitude...but now she feared he would live a life of ever consuming anger stemming from a desire to take vengeance for how another had wronged him...something she could sympathize with given her own past.

Unfortunately for Jerid, while his anger was allowing him to carve through the equally powerful Undead and even those who were stronger than him, he was surrounded and the power flowing through him from his rage could only make up so much of a difference: he would be slain by them in short order if he kept battling, but he would die if he did not fight as well so there was no choice in the matter for him. As he bashed away one group of Undead soldiers, another would pepper him with ranged weaponry and wound him to make the next melee attacker's job easier.

He was slowly succumbing to his new injuries and could not keep fighting on, healing not an option given his surrounded status, though fortunately there was an alternative.

The battle that had been raging was ended in a single moment when a bolt of lightning struck down upon an unwary Undead, depriving him of his reanimation and causing his remaining rotted flesh and bones to crumble down now in a pile of their own ashes. Looking first to their fallen comrade and then at the one who cast the spell that had done it, the Undead found themselves pausing in confusion.

How could a healer have summoned such a powerful attack?

Twisting her arms in a graceful yet strong fashion, the hooded healer looked as if she were slamming something down in the air, "Begone."

A good half of the remaining Undead were unable to avoid in time the various bolts that followed the first one, all of them coming directly from a summoned cloud in the air above them that possessed a massive size. Those who could not move in time writhed in agony if they were not slain outright, and those who were able to survive the spell did not do so for long as they continued to be hammered by strike after strike on their prone bodies.

As she channeled her spell, the healer scowled and spoke down to the enemies now fleeing from her attacks that possessed such accuracy that it took all their efforts to just avoid rather than put any effort in on attacking themselves. Their actions disgusted her, not being those of noble warriors but of cutthroat rogues following a selfish fool.

"You all have this second life given to you, and you squander it. You come to a place of unarmed foes and seek to slaughter them for nothing but the blind ambition of your leader and your own enrichment and glory."

To maintain the attack would drain more energy than the woman possessed, and so she relented on her barrage of thunderbolts to conserve what little energy she still possessed. She had been hoping to hold onto some in case of an emergency, but it appeared that now would be that time.

The moment they received a moment of relief, a few of the Undead decided to lash out at their new foe. When the first closed the gap and aimed to strike her, many others piling in behind them, she had already vanished in a flash of light Jerid recognized via color as being similar to the energy coming from that Elvish woman earlier.

When she reappeared not even a second later it was with a dagger drawn from one Undead's sheath and plunged into the throat of a Hunter that had been taking aim at her from afar. Not wasting a moment, she tore it through the side of their neck and plunged it into the one she stole it from, their armor not protecting them from the dagger being slid down the opening for their neck.

As she twisted the knife and made sure the damage was done, she used her other hand to take some rope from the fallen Hunter's hip via telekinesis. Once she had it under her power, she sent it across to tie the legs of another approaching Undead soldier. They fell to the ground and were swiftly dealt with by Jerid, though the others still tried to combat the hidden Mage who had worn the clothes of a Priest.

Due to their differing speeds this charge at her proved fruitless, as while teleporting was not easy or lax on its energy drain it was far easier to do in repetition than lightning bolt after lightning bolt. The result was that one of the Undead would be suddenly picked off by a precision strike allowed by her teleportation, then another as they all tried to react to the last one's second death, and another, and another, all the while Jerid barreled into them and hacked away at their decayed bodies with a renewed fervor. Any attacks that might have connected with the lightly armored Mage were diverted with clever usage of telekinesis and the explosion of bursts of light one might consider fireworks right in the faces of approaching Undead. This all being the case, within a minute the remaining Undead had all been defeated, not even a twitch to be seen from their still corpses.

Pushed beyond her previous exhaustion caused by her healing of the many Scarlet Crusaders in the Monastery, the woman nearly collapsed along with the last body she had cut the throat out of. She had danced around their gushing bodies well enough to avoid nearly any of it tainting her outfit, her movements those of a skilled performer.

As she caught her breath, Jerid was left with silence as he considered what he had just learned of his current companion.

She could have just teleported away and left him to die fighting them...instead she stayed and used all of her power to save him. The selflessness of the healer almost irritated Jerid, who felt both unworthy of it and resentful over requiring it. He had helped her out of basic decency and to repay her for what she had done for all of them, but now to see that she was actually the one helping him reversed his perception of the situation.

"I didn't know you were such a powerful mage...why have you been healing all this time when you could do that?"

Panting from her exertion, the mage removed her mask and hood for once and let her hair fall down from where it had been contained previously.

Jerid winced from his pain just as he recognized the face before him, “You…”

It was identical to the one that had been in his dreams...it was identical to that Elf who had invaded the Monastery. Silver-blue hair, the same features, and the same eyes that now glowed as the magical mask she wore no longer restricted their purple glow. If not for her aged appearance, she would be the same person.

She was barely older it looked though, maybe only about thirty which was nothing in Elven years. Just who was she?

"It took you all long enough."

Aria gaped briefly as she noticed a familiar yellow skinned, orange haired Siren leaning against a tree nearby the Scarlet Monastery. As the sounds of battle raged in the background, Aria and her companions approached their ally with the former showing surprise.

"Adagio, you're already here?"

Adagio scoffed, "Of course I am. I followed a small army of Elves down south a bit and here we are," turning to the Auburn haired man who was in charge of their little group, Adagio smiled in a friendly manner, "Will, darling, please assign me to study a more deserving specimen next time. That half-Elf didn't even bother saying goodbye when he rode to meet the lord you're tracking, and that is no way to treat a lady such as myself."

The man rose a single eyebrow before resuming his normally passive expression, "You will refrain from speaking so informally to me, my insubordinate agent. Now, what did you learn in Silvermoon?"

Reminded that her current boss was the no-nonsense sort, Adagio just cut to the chase and saved the retort she would have thrown out if it were anyone else, "Lor'themar is a subservient fool to Sylvanas Windrunner, but a capable warrior and battle commander. That matters less now that he has lost a third of his army, which marches towards the gate to Outland at the orders of that man who revived our friend."

"And the commanders?"

"Reuenthal and Mitter'meyer are capable beyond their existing station, yet restrained by the social politics of their kind. Together they are nigh-undefeatable from what I have seen, even having survived an encounter with a beast named Kargath who carved up the city. Of the two, I'd keep an eye more on Reuenthal, since he's marginally better at commanding than his already talented friend, but also because there are demons in that mind of his."

Jaina spoke up next, worry in her voice as she inquired about the person she was seeking after, "What of Kael'thas?"

"Everyone seems to think that he is sleeping with that idiot woman he is traveling with. There's even a betting pool going on I hear..."

Their leader narrowed his eyes at Adagio, "Pertinent details only."

It was at this reprimand that Adagio actually noticed that there was a new member to their group with them. She looked over Jaina and scoffed at the woman's purple and blue attire that left little to the imagination, "Wait, Huffer, who is this tart? I mean, come on, I am not all that reserved but does the world need to see your stomach at every living moment?"

The death glare she received this time actually set Adagio straight, the woman cowering as she realized that the man did not enjoy being called by such a nickname, "Jaina Proudmoore, and she is here to aid us in these matters concerning Lord Sunstrider given her familiarity with him. Now, answer the question presented."

"He seems far more reserved and kind than the accounts of the man in Outland. However, it is only just recently that he has taken the mantle of a 'ruler' and is commanding forces of his own. He treats his own life as expendable and is currently diverting attention away from his forces by being elsewhere, since there appear to be those who wish him dead, presumably from the Outland Kael's forces among others."

"Very good. I expect your full report later, but for now we must continue on," he began to walk towards where he could hear a conflict raging, his first assumption being that it was Kael'thas and some of his forces fighting Crusaders or something along those lines. Before he could get far Adagio stopped him and gave forewarning about the situation.

"I wouldn't if I were you. The Monastery is being assaulted by the Undead belonging to Sylvanas. She has gone east to route off survivors, and her pet demon is leading the charge here to wipe the silly Crusaders off the map."

Jaina gawked at the revelation, drawing her magic staff and moving forward to join the conflict, "We can't just let them slaughter them!"

This time it was their leader who stopped them, using one arm to block Jaina's path as he spoke in a calm, detached voice, "We can and shall. The Undead are allied with the Horde, which in turn has the Blood Elves under their protection. Should we, representatives of Kael'thas Sunstrider and his paramour Princess Lulamoon, intervene in opposition of them we stand to cause civil war that will cost the lives of more than a few hundred Crusaders. A war that can weaken the fragile standing of two races that survive on a continent filled to the brim with those who seek to ravage and destroy them."

Seeing his point, and having little to no love for the Crusade, Jaina struggled to decide what to do. She wanted to help, but at the same time doing so would result in many other conflicts down the road since these were her enemies doing battle right then and there...it was not truly her place to intervene, but not doing so felt against her own code. Only the rationale that helping would actually harm more than helping them kept Jaina from rushing in anyways, and she did this with a heavy heart even still.

Behind them Adagio and Aria were catching up, with the former smiling at her partner after giving her a brief embrace, "So Aria, how was it?"

"Bad enough that I miss that idiot Sonata. I don't get why she gets to stay in Equestria or wherever while we have to go on a mission that can take forever."

Adagio shot Aria a serious glance after making sure their boss was not seemingly paying attention to Aria's grumbling, "Remember, you only are alive thanks to Luna. Don't complain about a little errand."

Aria jabbed Adagio, causing the other woman to gasp slightly as she was pushed back, "And I was only going to die because of you. I can complain all I want, especially when I have to find the bitch who screwed us over in the first place. I've had to fight and travel all over the place while I've been with this guy, while you get to eat fancy dinners and enjoy yourself."

Her complaints earned a small chuckle from Adagio, "I'm sorry that I am a tad bit better at information gathering than you, Aria," she leant in close and whispered in Aria's ear, "Don't you worry though, I can make up for time lost when we get to the next inn."

Blushing, Aria looked away from her partner and crossed her arms, "Loki-lite better not have touched you."

"Oh my, you really are jealous, but now that you mention it he is a little Loki-like. Parent problems, emotional instability, a brother-figure who isn't actually related to him but who he is very close to..." Adagio laughed as she realized how right Aria was that the two men were like another black haired, blonde haired duo, "Hel, Mitter'meyer even has a hammer and is blonde as Sonata is dumb! I think their nicknames even have some similarity with all that Asgardian Norse stuff too..."

A snap of their bosses fingers caught their attention, "Enough chatting. I will not have us always one step behind them. We will travel using horses the dead Crusaders have no need for, and we will attempt to find Princess Lulamoon before Sylvanas or some other entity does."

As the others all moved to do as their leader planned, Jaina lingered with indecision. Seeing Undead raid a place of weakness reminded her of the last time she had truly seen her lover Arthas...before he was the one to slay a city that was being infested by the Scourge. It was then that he shifted from the prideful but well meaning Prince she had known to the gradually darker and darker villain he would become, beginning by slaying innocents to save the lives of others, and ending with him being the one to lead the Scourge himself.

"Yet another Culling of Stratholme..."

"Now, Lady Proudmoore. You will be left behind if you do not keep pace."

Turning her back, Jaina only hoped that the Crusaders dying today were those who deserved it for their crimes.

Getting over some of his surprise, Jerid began to explain why he had been shocked at first to see that the healer who had been working with the Crusade for at least as long as he had been there looked just like someone else who attacked them.

“You…”

The hooded woman laughed as she motioned for Jerid to help her continue walking. Now she was truly too weak to do so on her own, and she still intended to escape before doing so would be impossible, “That Elf looked just like me, did she not?”

Jerid nodded as he helped her once again, the two making their way into the hallway the Undead had come from. As they walked she spoke more, though she was doing so at her own pace and seemingly for her own sake rather than for his. Like she had been waiting to get this off her chest, and for once felt comfortable revealing her true self.

“I spent one life as selfishly as one could…” she coughed from the exertion she had put her body through, “When I came here to this Monastery, I hoped to make up for my past by helping others.”

She smirked. That had been many years ago, though time was a funny thing she supposed. She once had little of it left, and now felt that same lingering feeling of demise hanging above her head.

“I never intended to join the Crusade, but they took hold of this place and pressed me into their services. I suppose this is just another piece of the penance I shall pay…one more piece to the pain I feel...”

Jerid scowled at the mention of pain, the blade he carried not allowing for his rage to truly disappear from him. He held the only piece of Lila he could, and he had been unable to take revenge for her...that girl had escaped, and he doubted he would get another chance. Yet, despite this, he felt that he would never be able to move on if he did not manage to honor the memories of those he had lost. That they would haunt him eternally if he did not at least try.

“First Kacricon, now Lila…those brigands have taken everything.”

“You must hate that girl…” the healer sighed, understanding his emotions entirely while also pitying them, “Be careful. Living one’s life with hatred may allow one to exact reprisal, but it will only hollow you and lead to one’s own ruin.”

Not liking how she was speaking down to him, Jerid scoffed at her attempt at giving him advice, "What would you know?"

The Mage smirked and almost laughed if not for her condition, “I murdered a man once. Am I a sinner worthy of death for depriving his family of him?” she coughed again, "I would hope not, not after what he did to me years before. Not after all the pain and suffering I went through...but I still killed someone. Do I deserve to face eternal hatred and eventual death at the hands of those I have wronged?"

Hearing that the kind healer who had been supportive of her fellow Crusaders not only once was a murderer, but also never intended to be a Crusader to begin with. Not knowing what to say, Jerid let her continue speaking, though instead of being halfway smug to make a point this time she spoke with far less confidence and more of the pain she had spoken of.

“I was so angry with him that I abused his…our daughter. A girl who might be twenty now if I had not ruined her life with my own vitriol and wrath.”

"Might be?"

"It is a long story..." as they reached the outside of the Monastery, where the main conflict was taking place, she coughed again, "Just know that I understand. I understand pain...I understand the anger you feel, even if it was not the same. Don't let it consume you...find something else to live for..."

Fortunately for them they had not run into further Undead on their way since they had spread out throughout the fortress, and they had taken care of the large portion who had been sent their way. Now in the clearing, they could see the airship provided by some unknown means as well as the Undead army fighting through the fanatics to get to it.

There was a crowd larger than what the ship could carry crowding around it, everyone fighting to get onboard the almost full ship so that they could be some of the ones to survive the encounter.

In her condition, there was no way the healer could fight through the crowd, and running on foot from the Undead would be a death sentence. With a nod, she let go of Jerid and motioned for him to go forward.

“Go.”

Having come to the same conclusion as her, Jerid apologized before moving towards the crowd, “I’m sorry. From here it’s every man for himself.”

It was difficult for the blonde Crusader who in many ways looked as if he were a lankier Lavitz to push his way into the crowd: not because he had a moral objection to shoving his comrades out of the way to save himself just as they were trying to do to everyone else, but because there were just so many bodies. The Monastery had housed hundreds, thousands of Crusaders in its time, and now those still alive were either fighting to the death against their hated foe or fleeing like this. Not about to throw his life away for nothing, Jerid sought to be one of those who survived the encounter to fight another day.

Pushing his way past the first few, Jerid began to speak to himself in a desperate manner, “If you’re weak you won’t survive,” pushing further into the crowd he continued, “If you’re weak you won’t survive!”

His goal was to get to the ladder of the Zeppelin and pull his way out of this hellhole, for the Undead were beginning to break through the line of the fanatics and slaw at those seeking to escape. Pushing himself further through his weaker allies, Jerid forcibly took hold of the ladder and began to climb it. When someone took hold of his leg to try and pull up using him, Jerid kicked the person threatening to drag him down with them and continued to try and climb up as those above him climbed onto the safety of the ship. It was beginning to take off, its pilot not willing to risk the approaching encounter with the Undead, and as it did so the rope ladder began to break under the repeated stress of having hundreds of people tearing at it and so many on it simultaneously.

Jerid almost reached the top when it snapped, his body falling along with it instantly to what would be a horrible death by the now army of Undead who had cut through those below him...if not for someone's hand catching his own and holding on tightly enough to slowly pull him in with them. Looking up at his aqua haired savior, Jerid used his remaining strength to pull himself on board the craft, at which point he collapsed not only from how much his body had suffered in the past day or so, but from the emotional exhaustion of losing two people he had loved...and now a third person he had come to respect, even if begrudgingly.

By the front entrance of the Monastery, the Mage who had worn the mantle of a Priest sighed as she watched the last of the Crusaders on the ground fall, and the Zeppelin leave once and for all.

Holding a hand to her heart, she quietly waited for her fate, knowing it was inevitable at this point and also not possessing the will to avert it, "If only I wasn't such a coward...maybe then..."

Author's Note

I hope you all enjoyed, and I hope I can hear your thoughts in the comments below! Your support is most appreciated and is what keeps this story rolling!

Level 33: Remote Controlled Zombie

A/N: Special thanks to Zero Moment, the other sans, Housecarl of Clan Drops, and AdmiralPopeyesBeard for commenting last chapter! Your support means a great deal and I hope to continue hearing from you all with what thoughts you have!

This chapter was admittedly a bitch to write. I wrote a total of twenty seven thousand words worth of variations for it and was not happy with any of them, so my apologies for taking a bit longer with this one. I was writing a ton, it just wasn’t what I would consider usable.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

“Cowards! You would flee from your post when the enemy is at our gates!?”

Blood Elves fled in droves as their foes rushed forth to meet them in battle, the defending army completely routed and caught out by the swift approach of a force led by a man they had once been allied with. Tasked by Kael’thas Sunstrider with securing a foothold in the region known as Outland, Mitter’meyer had taken his forces and gone through the large gate between worlds to do as told.
Their movements had been expected by their enemy however and a defensive force from the Blood Elves in Outland had come to meet Mitter’meyer’s army, but their timing had been unfortunate: Mitter’meyer had arrived just as the Outlanders set up to repel their brethren from the barren landscape that was Outland, rather than after they had the chance to properly prepare for an invasion. In fact this worked in Mitter’meyer’s favor for his army was able to assault the other with a forward blitz that drove them into confusion as they were torn away from their tools and efforts to prepare and instead we being set upon by the very Blood Elves they had meant to slay.

Adding into this was a certain degree of uncertainty of fighting one’s own kind, the Kael’thas of Outland not having toiled to make sure the soldiers sent to confront the incoming army were wholly loyal to him. While possessing a greater army, the force sent by this Kael’thas was picked apart at a pace so rapid that it was almost as if it was no battle at all. Those that did not surrender were fleeing, all except for those whose sense of duty was such that to surrender or run like this was unforgivable, and so they fought tooth and nail against the Gale Wolf’s forces.

They did not expect to then be caught in a pincer strike from a force led by Reuenthal, who had taken a longer route around to face the enemy, only having been slowed the briefest of moments by the retreating forces his own came across which he quickly forced into submission and took prisoner for the time being. Their army having collapsed in the makeshift base by the exit of Outland by the edge of the steps leading up to it, only one Warrior truly stood in opposition to them and kept the battle from ending.

A warrior forged by the deadly combat of Outland, where the least dangerous opponents one could face were the Fel Orcs that slaughtered so many in Silvermoon, a silver haired Elf by the name of Anavel stood to face his enemy despite his imminent defeat as the forces around him crumbled.

Twenty men had been cut down, though not slain thanks to the usage of healers, by the man as he again and again drove back any who approached him in the small passage he stood in. It was not a true passage like one might find in a castle but rather just a result of the makeshift supplies and tools that were going to be used that afternoon to build the forward base.

Alliance and Horde troops were both nearby, having engaged in a truce by the edge of the portal to allow both of their armies through to face the Illidari, but they did not move to help Mitter’meyer’s army even as it ran into difficulty against the immensely skilled foe who had earned a lifetime of battle experience in hellish conditions.

As Mitter’meyer and Reuenthal considered their options from the sidelines, still having to command the entire battle and its many components despite being capable fighters themselves, the mercenary who tagged along with them at Kael’s insistence spoke up.

“Your boys have been having trouble getting past that there pretty boy,” Bronn said in a simple tone, as if he were just explaining a basic fact so he could get on to what he truly meant to say, which happened to be a bit of dry humor, “Though come to think of it you all look like lasses, so who am I to judge. Want me to handle ‘im?”

Not trusting of the mercenary, Reuenthal spoke up and looked over to his friend, “Mitter’meyer, I believe we had best attend to this ourselves.”

Eager to face a challenge of this sort, the co-leader of the expedition smirked back as he brandished his hammer, “Yes, let’s!”

“Bronn, organize the forces that have been driven back so that when we are finished we can move forward.”

With this command given, Reuenthal and Mitter’meyer stepped forward and dismissed their troops trying to assault the purple armored Blood Elf whose skill was unquestionable as was his loyalty to his cause: not out of personal sadism, loyalty to the Illidari, or anything of the kind, but rather an obvious devotion to his kind as he fought so hard to serve even in the face of what he must believe to be traitors.

Perhaps if he had not come up against the combined might and skill of the twin pillars of the Kael’thas army, he may have managed to eke out a victory based on his own valor and determination alone.

Despite his fierceness in the fights leading up to their encounter, Anavel greeted the two other men with due respect for those of their rank.

“Mitter’meyer, the Gale Wolf, whose swift troop movements routed forces belonging to the Lich King, and Reuenthal, the man who defeated the infamous Edwin VanCleef…” Anavel’s voice shifted from a regretful respect to a tone of irritated betrayal, “It is an honor to face two commanders of your notoriety, but I shall not let you pass. I have been told you serve the false Prince Sunstrider now, and so I shall not allow your heresy to continue. For our race and people, I cannot!”

He leapt forth and was soon met by Mitter’meyer, who reacted with a fervor for battle and desire to test his mettle against one of their own who had been forged by Outland’s brutality. A land of demons, Fel Orcs, and other horrors ought to forge some of the most trying of foes, and he was proven correct in this belief when he was driven back quickly by the swordplay of his foe. Now on the defense, Mitter’meyer realized that he had to invest all his focus on not allowing a fatal blow from striking him one moment to the next, something he could only manage to do thanks to the speed he possessed matching the swiftness of the tactics he wielded.

Anavel drove Mitter’meyer back with a mighty blow and leapt forth to close in for the kill, only for his foot to become snagged on something that caused him to drop to the ground as blood pooled around his ankle. Looking down, the Blood Elf could see that a trap like what one might hunt with had been put down while he was focused on his close fight with Mitter’meyer, his eyes having been too focused on his enemy to see the trap his foe had purposefully jumped over.

After the initial bite of the trap, Anavel felt his entire leg begin to freeze as the magic imbued upon it spilled forth onto him. A freezing trap, a common trap for Hunters, but an effective one all the same…he growled at how he fell for one of the oldest tricks there was, letting himself be so caught up in fighting one foe that he fell victim to another’s simple cunning.

Reuenthal stood enough paces back that he was not in danger of being immediately assaulted by Gato, but close enough that when he leveled his pistol towards Gato’s head it would surely blow the man’s head off, “You are outmatched, Anavel. You and your men do not need to die here today, nor do they need to do so in the employ of a traitor to our people.”

The wounded and defeated soldier snarled, refusing to accept what he was being told, “You lie! I serve the same cause I always have!”

Keeping an even tone, Reuenthal shook his head while continuing his effort to plant enough of a seed of doubt in his foe that he would not have to fight him to the death: Anavel would not abide capture, so even with one limb disabled he would prove a threat.

“Kael’thas Sunstrider has had his position usurped by a man who seeks not to save our kind, but rather to use them for his selfish will. The man you would take orders from is corrupt, and the followers he surrounds himself with are either fools or morally bankrupt as their patron.”

“I…”

To secure his effort that now was beginning to show progress with the appearance of doubt on Gato’s face, Reuenthal closed what little distance remained between them and lowered his weapon, instead bringing a hand down to touch the other man’s shoulder, “There will always be another battle, another occasion to prove your loyalty to our people. Do not throw away your life for a meaningless battle and for the sake of a pretender.”

While calming down somewhat, Anavel was still put off by the idea that he had been misled by the man who he swore his loyalty to and the cause he lived to serve as well, “What proof do you have?”

“We have met the one who has falsely been labeled pretender, and he is the man we once fought against the Undead hordes with back at the time of the Scourge’s encroachment and destruction of our lands. There cannot be two of the man we know as Prince, so the other must be false. We have been sent here to liberate Outland from those who would endanger our people, and the mad fool commanding our forces here is our primary enemy.”

Being told this, even the fiercely loyal Anavel began to question his beliefs, his gaze turning aside as he finally laid down his own arms, “Kael’thas has been acting…erratically in recent months. Many have had their misgivings, but it is not the place of a soldier to question their lord, merely to obey them and carry out their will.”

Fighting to stand up, the soldier broke the ice surrounding his leg with a fierce movement of the trapped limb, then knelt before Reuenthal and bowed his head modestly, “If what you say is true, then let me pledge my sword to you so I can make right the service I have carried out for a fiend who would misuse our people.”

With the surrender of Anavel came the following surrender of even the most ardent forces following him, for until that point the man had been a bodyguard and immensely loyal soldier to their lord. If even he was giving up, then there should as well, particularly since their foes seemed to not wish them any real ill-will. Bloodshed had been kept to a minimum fortunately due to the overall circumstances, and so some of the force sent to defeat the “rebels” instead became a part of it while the remainder (and majority) became prisoners of war.

As they finished reorganizing their forces, Mitter’meyer approached his associate and grinned broadly to the man who convinced even the hardliner Anavel to stop in his tracks, “You are quite the orator when you put your mind to it. No wonder you attract so many women if you can even convince our enemies to join us.”

Reuenthal shrugged, not about to take credit for the charisma his handsome personage possessed, though appreciative of how it aided in this scenario. While many were put-off by his dark humor, his eyes, or his history as a bastard son of a noble family, he possessed an appeal to those he was able to prove himself to, “I merely spoke the truth and was fortunate enough that it was heeded. We face a civil war now, and it would be a shame if talent was to be wasted and if those not complicit in the betrayal were to be punished for the crimes of another.”

“I agree. We should try to keep the bloodshed down as much as we can, at least against foes who might be allies if not for circumstance,” Mitter’meyer gestured wildly as he gripped his fist, “Those who willingly sold their souls to the likes of the Dreadlords though will find no mercy from I, Mitter’meyer, and instead face the swift justice they deserve!”

His friend smirked, not nearly as theatrical as his partner but appreciative of the spirit he possessed all the same, “And then return home for a nice homecooked meal and play the part of courteous, henpecked husband. The parts of fierce warrior and devoted husband suit you both well. I don’t believe I could ever juggle the needs of a wife and child with the duties of a soldier.”

The feisty look on Mitter’meyer’s face faded as he thought of his own family life, and of what it lacked due to the inability of him or his wife of conceiving a child, “Well, I am not so perfect as to have the ideal family life, but all the same I do what I can for Eva.”

Realizing his misstep, even the normally unapologetic Reuenthal felt the need to instantly offer some form of consolation, “I apologize for my careless word choice. I forgot that…”

Mitter’meyer held a hand up to stop his friend. He knew that the man meant no offense, and he would accept no apology where none was needed, “It’s fine. No need to dwell upon it.”

He and Eva had been speaking and were content with adoption when they felt the time was right, but with all the strife in the world presently they did not think it would be acceptable to do so yet. After all, Mitter’meyer was constantly endangering himself still, and to take in a child only to orphan them again would be cruel.

With the defeat of the first force sent their way by the mad prince Kael’thas of Outland, the army of rebellious Elves dedicated to the one they believed to be their true lord had established themselves in the world known as Outland.

On the world of Azeroth, a new peril had come to threaten the group whose loyalty was possessed by those breaching Outland.

Trixie looked up from the arrow pointing in her face to the light blue skinned Undead woman whose Elven features were apparent even to the partially ignorant Trixie. The woman’s hood did not hide her ears, and her revealing armor did not disguise the lithe form that she possessed.

“You had best explain why I should not slay you for trespassing, High Elf, before I let this string go.”

Trixie opened her mouth to do just that, not wanting to be slain by whomever this was who managed to creep up on her so quickly, before another voice interrupted and kept her from doing so.

“No need!”

Trixie, Vanessa, and Sylvanas all turned to face the noise, only for the last of the three women to let out a surprised breath as something shocked her. The man who had spoken was wearing dark leather armor, his green eyes shining out of his devil horned helmet which held the same color as his outfit. His shoulderpads glowed with green fel energy, and he had what appeared to be a remote control in his hands as he spoke up again in a cheerful voice.

“What a beautiful opportunity! Now I can have Sylvanas Windrunner herself carry out my task, then bring her head back for my lord to admire!”

Not exactly minding that someone who had just moments before threatened her was suddenly rigid and not moving, seemingly because of this man’s remote control…thing, Trixie still was curious as to what was now happening: from what she could tell she was now being attacked by someone who wanted to attack both her and the person who previously had been attacking her.

Why couldn’t this world be as simple as Equestria?

It was then that Trixie noticed that a small car-like thing was skittering across the ground of the forest clearing, and from it a beam was being emitted towards the now frozen Sylvanas Windrunner.

“Wait, is that remote control toy stopping her?”

The interloper cackled, “Stopping? Oh no no no, it’s doing far more than that!” he moved the controls on his system, “Sylvanas, kill them all!”

Trixie did not have time to even take another breath before the other woman’s bow caught her in the throat and knocked her off her feet and clear over the camp’s fire all the way to the other side of their set-up. As she tumbled aside, Vanessa threw herself aside to avoid a follow up attack from Sylvanas, the teenager having an easier time actually seeing the Undead’s movement but still barely able to keep up with the far more powerful being who now was being used like a puppet thanks to the overpowered trinket brought by this enemy Elf.

Not hesitating at all, Sylvanas let loose an arrow towards where Trixie was pulling herself to her feet, the magician having had trouble breathing at first and focused more on that than the actual battle. The arrows did not meet their target despite their speed due to a last second forceful movement of her bow, for a hurtled spear had clipped its bottom.

The possessed Sylvanas turned to see a metal boot to the face as Lavitz launched himself into the battle as fast as he could manage. While not in his peak shape, he still possessed the eye of a Warrior who had been on the level of Azeroth’s finest, even if he had not been at the top of that tier. The impact of his attack knocked Sylvanas back, but it did no actual damage to her, the leader of the Undead race protected by the powerful magic held within her clothing and weapon.

The Blood Elf in control of Sylvanas sneered, "You reacted swiftly, I would have thought you still would be fighting the reinforcements of Undead I saw coming our way. Step aside, Knight of Stormwind, for I am about to do both of us a favor."

Lavitz growled as he took a roundhouse kick to the chest that he could feel break ribs, yet he had to power through if they were to survive this. He must endure for the sake of the others, though he noticed something when struck by Sylvanas he thought useful: she was not fighting at her full potential, which gave some small glimmer of hope that they could survive her brutal attack.

"I could never look at my mother in the eye if stood by and did not intervene here, so prepare yourself Telonicus!”

The Elf named Telonicus snickered at the proclamation, still being in control of the situation as he made Sylvanas continue her assault. Too close for great use of her bow, Sylvanas instead removed arrows from her quiver and used them as daggers of sorts to impale her enemy. It was by throwing himself aside and trying to do everything in his power that Lavitz managed to keep from letting her stab the magic infused arrows straight through his armor, and it was by doing this that he tried to buy more time for Kael and Karl to finish off the Undead that were coming their way.

As Sylvanas threw punches and kicks into her near impossible to see attack on Lavitz, Telonicus began to smugly take in the sight before him of seeing a Knight from Stormwind have the life beaten out of him with no true way of retaliating. The man’s pale face had blood running down it from where a strike had left a gash on his head, and as the stream of blood grew so did the sadistic grin Telonicus held.

"You seem weaker than I thought you would be, Knight. Has standing around in a castle made you grow all stiff and rusty?" he sneered at the other man as Sylvanas kicked him over and began to stomp on his armored chest, damaging his shattered ribs even further and making him spit up blood, "Or is this the true strength of the last child of Servi, a man whose weakness let him fall to that fool Garithos?"

Despite the beating he was suffering, upon hearing Telonicus’s taunt, Lavitz threw a hard punch into one of the Undead’s shins as she lifted the other to finish him off with a stomp to the neck. Losing her footing, Sylvanas stumbled away from Lavitz for a moment before regaining it, just when a shout distracted her (or really Telonicus) from their attack.

"Kikoho!"

A bright flash illuminated both Sylvanas and Telonicus, Trixie’s attack having been focused in a direction that would strike both. She did not pause to allow the light to fade though, and she shot forth another arcane blast after the first, and another following that, and so on and so forth with each shot growing larger and more ferocious than the last to the point she began to clear away the forest in that direction as collateral damage from her spell.

"What is this..."

When Trixie ran out of breath and could no longer sustain her barrage with her now empty mana pool, Telonicus and Sylvanas emerged from the smoking and smoldering of the now destroyed terrain. While both were in most respects completely unharmed, the fact that they had been repulsed shocked Telonicus…at least until he remembered that the reason they sought this woman was the power laying within her, whether she knew it or not.

Catching her breath and preparing herself in a combat stance, Trixie prepared once more to fight. A certain pride showed itself in her voice and stance, and her eyes glowed fiercely as she stared down the Elven man who now opposed them, "I carry with me the legacy and power of Luna Faustdóttir, and I shall not let some cadaver or her puppeteer stand in my way or harm those I care about. Now flee, or in the name of Luna, I will punish you!"

Author's Note

I came up with the idea of Telonicus fucking around with his little remote control thing like he does in his boss fight when I realized that his toy doesn't care what level you are, it still takes control of you and keeps you from fighting. Make him solely focus on controlling it, and I'd assume he could do a little more than make you run around randomly. After all, in the normal fight he's also fighting normally, whereas here he gets to basically sit around and eat popcorn.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below! Your support means a great deal to me, and helps keep the story going!

Level 34-35: Walk it Off

A/N: Special thanks to the other sans, Housecarl of Clan Drops, and EchoWing for commenting since last time, as actually hearing back from you guys was much appreciated. I was really worried after awhile I was only going to get the one comment...then Housecarl came in, and Echo is a newer reader but at least it was some form of feedback. Was kind of depressing to get more views on another story's chapter in five minutes than this one got in two weeks despite this one taking far more effort to make, but I guess that's just how the dice fall with stories...

In any case, I hope you all enjoy, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

“Tell me, Agent, what do you know of the one we are following?”

“What do you want to know? How she’s a pathetic traitor?”

“I do not believe that tricking would-be criminals such as yourselves into trusting her, then defeating you and ruining your plans against Equestria is true betrayal given that you first were betraying your homeland.”

“Semantics, whatever, that doesn’t change the fact that she went nuts with the power she took from me.”

“From us.”

“Whatever, Aria, I already apologized for taking yours!”

“You will stop this insolent behavior at once. Now, answer my question.”

“What do you want to know? That her mother was some abusive fiend? That she hero-worships a former villain you now work for, named Princess Luna? Or how about the fact that she apparently found an Elf in Hel and decided to take him with her?”

“Perhaps if we analyze her relationship with the secondary target we can better locate them…”

Telonicus did not heed Trixie’s warning, and after repositioning himself and Sylvanas so that they could avoid Trixie’s next volley of magic he paused to straighten out his armor. The force behind Trixie’s attack had pushed pieces out of place and kept his black suit from meshing together as it should, though little in the way of actual damage could be seen on it.

Because he did not heed Trixie’s warning, as Telonicus prepared to use Sylvanas to beat Trixie into the ground he saw a purple glow in the hands of his foe. He could not see any magic attack incoming from her, so he paid it little mind, and so paid for his arrogance when a powerful blow rained down on the back of his head.

Trixie shifted her arms to continue her telekinesis, swerving the magic infused hammer of Grand Crusader Dathrohan they had stolen from its bag to smash into Teleonicus from behind and then into Sylvanas too as the latter spun while Telonicus moved his controls erratically upon the powerful strike he suffered.

After the hammer sailed past Sylvanas and right into Trixie’s palm, the Elf let out a haughty laugh one might expect of a noblewoman and twirled the hammer around with a seeming skill and experience rather than natural dexterity.

"Uncle would be so proud."

Having just returned along with the remaining missing members of their group, Kael heard Trixie say this and was instantly taken out of the current situation and became focused on what Trixie just said. Had she remembered enough to know of her family back home?

"You have an uncle?"

Trixie shrugged, since technically the answer was no as far as she knew, but she did have an adoptive family she picked up before coming here.

"Yes, well a step-uncle, but that's a story for another time. My step-father is more of a magic user, but his brother is quite fond of his hammer," she smirked and held the hammer up into the air, where Trixie summoned a cloud that then struck the hammer with lightning. The electricity stayed in its tip and sparks could be seen jolting out from the weapon, “Time to make them both proud of me, even if they can’t see this.”

During this exchange Telonicus had been fixing his helmet, which had been struck so hard as to half turn around on his head and thus obscure his vision. It had also been dented given the weapon’s massive power caused by its former wielder’s magical enchantments, and so the Elf lackey was suffering a severe pain in his temple from where the dented metal had smashed into his hair and scalp.

When Telonicus finally managed to fix his helmet’s position so as to see out of it again, albeit not perfectly since it was not 100% in the correct spot, he was made privy to a lightning storm crashing down both from the cloud and from out of the hammer. It had been Trixie’s plan to short circuit his controlling device, but unfortunately the engineer had crafted it to be resistant to such damage, rendering her attack useless in its purpose…but it still ended sending a jolt down the man whose irritation was rising at how this pathetic woman was making a fool of him.

He drew a pistol he had crafted as well and took a shot at Trixie that would have actually caught her between the eyes, if she had actually remained where she was and not vanished entirely. He turned as he heard another sound and caught a hammer swing to the cheek, though now that his guard was not entirely lowered he was able to tank the hit far better than the initial one. His jaw ached, but he just ignored it to point his pistol at her again and fire into her gut.

The back of his leg pained him as the reverse side of his knee was impacted and shocked by another hammer strike. If Trixie held as much power in her as Telonicus did the attack may have put an actual dent in his fighting capability, but instead she was coasting off the weapon’s own power and thus only managed to force him down on one knee as he recovered from the strike.

Lashing out wildly, Telonicus struck Trixie across the chin with a gauntleted fist as she attempted to teleport in front of him to land an upward swing of her hammer right across his chin. If it had been a weaker person it may have just broken their jaw, knocked out their teeth, and maybe even killed them, but Trixie took it all in stride and after spiraling back a step she swung her stolen hammer straight for the man’s face again.

With greater agility than Trixie without her quick teleportation, Telonicus caught her hand and wrist and stopped her attack before she could land the attack. With her in his grip, he hoisted her up into the air and pointed his pistol up into where her neck and head met. Remembering a moment later that he was supposed to bring her in alive, he tossed her onto the ground and swiftly kicked her gut with one reinforced boot.

"Teleportation in such rapid succession..." he wiped blood from his mouth and then kicked her so hard that Trixie tumbled over, at which point he began to stomp harshly on her back and spine, "You are not just merely Blinking from one position to another. You have tied illusions into your attacks. I did not expect so much from a novice, but now I know better."

His attempt to stomp Trixie into unconsciousness was interrupted when he was struck in the side by a fireball the size of his body: Kael had faith his attack would not harm Trixie as much as what this powerful foe would if he were to just let him continue beating down on her, so he would ask forgiveness for any damage he caused her later.

When the fire subsided, Telonicus let out a laugh that sent a chill down Kael’s spine, a chill that worsened when he realized he had done next to nothing to his foe thanks to the magic powers imbued in the man’s armor. While not resistant to normal attacks like Lavitz’s was, this armor the man wore was quite capable of resisting fire, a result perhaps of the tinkerer’s fear of his lord titled “The Sun King/Prince”.

Irritated not only that his opponent was powerful enough to overpower Trixie so severely, but also take a powerful hit like that and be completely fine, “Okay, just who are you?”

Kicking Trixie over with such force that she crashed over into Kael’s legs, Telonicus picked his pistol up and took aim at the ‘fake’ Kael though kept from firing until he could introduce himself, his spare hand lightly controlling Sylvanas to continue attacking the others, “I am the Master Engineer of the Blood Elves, the great Telonicus, appointed by Kael’thas Sunstrider himself, and now tasked with the goal of handling the man who falsely proclaims himself to be the Sun King!”

Kael helped Trixie to her feet, his partner having lost her breath and thus leaving him to respond with a tilt of the head, “I never appointed you anything, though I’ll probably give Tony that title when I get around to it,” once Trixie could stand on her own, Kael shot a glare at Telonicus as the man missed a gunshot: Trixie had teleported both herself and Kael to a few feet away, “You don’t get out much, do you? A more practiced combatant would have killed us by now with the tools you appear to possess.”

Vexed that he not only missed but that he was being mocked at the exact same moment, Telonicus unloaded his remaining ammo while growling at Kael.

“Silence! I’ll show you—”

His aim went awry due to something biting down on his hand and altering the position of his fingers. It did not cause him actual pain, but he did struggle to fight off the toothy bite he was receiving thanks to a Mana Wyrm.

“What are you doing you filthy animal!?” he shook his hand, and to his displeasure he noticed that the animal had clamped its mouth down on some rings he was wearing. When he managed to throw the Mana Wyrm aside, the rings slipped off his fingers along with it, “Those are mine! Give them back!”

In an act of defiance, Nana shook them side to side to throw them in every which direction, prompting Trixie to give a pained laugh.

“Good Nana!”

Telonicus grabbed at the closest of the rings, but his attempt to retrieve it failed because it was grabbed, and swallowed, by Nana first. The man shook with anger as he tried to grab the small creature, failing due to its slippery nature and his diminishing ability to think and aim his attacks thanks to his complete fury.

“That was my Ring of Shapeshifting! Do you know how many Druids I had to go through for that? Do you know how hard it was to create something like that!?” realizing he could not retrieve it as the Wyrm slipped away from him time and time again, Telonicus gave up and focused his attention back on the actual battle, “Fine, whatever, I didn’t need it anyways…required too much mana to be useful as it was.”

Nana’s attack had an unintended effect, and that was the inspiration of another animal to assault Telonicus. The engineer soon found his shin being assaulted by a rolling pin as a small fish creature assaulted him furiously…to no effect.

“What is this, a Murloc? I am Grand Engineer Telonicus, not some zookeeper!” Telonicus punted Cookie away, “Perish!”

“An engineer, huh?”

While Telonicus and his pet Sylvanas had been busy fighting the others, one member of Trixie’s group had slipped away to quickly concoct a special poison for the occasion. Now done with the alchemical process, Vanessa had returned and slipped a dagger through a gap in Telonicus’s armor to his shock as she appeared as if from thin air.

“If I wasn’t going to make you suffer for the rest of your short lifespan, I might ask you to fix a certain robot for me,” cold fury crept into Vanessa’s voice as she twisted the blade that was impaling her foe, “You met him at Deadmines, isn’t that right?”

Despite the pain he felt, Telonicus managed to backhand the teenager and drive her back. The dagger remained in his abdomen, causing him to look down at it and recognize its shape.

“Ragnaros the Firelord’s dagger? However did a whelp like you come to possess such a powerful tool?”

Vanessa recovered from the strike she received and launched forward to try and drive the blade deeper in her enemy, sparing her unwillingness to kill on this occasion for the man who had helped lead to the ruin of her makeshift family and the deaths of so many she cared about. The straightforward nature of her attack let Telonicus, possessing greater agility even than the swift Rogue, remove the dagger from his body and slam its handle into her on the way out of him.

His opponent stunned briefly, Telonicus smashed the handle across her face and knocked her to the ground a dozen feet away. Such was the strength difference, even though Vanessa was the most powerful of their group in terms of raw fighting potential, “Come back when you’re a bit older kid. I’m not fighting brats and pets, such a task is beneath me…” he gestured to Sylvanas, whose blurry movements were tearing into each of the rest of the party. One moment she would be beating down Kael savagely, and another she would be strangling their healer Dirge, “But just fine for a puppet like this!”

The deaths of so many she cared for still fresh on her mind and the wounds still deep on her soul, Vanessa did not even seem to care about the damage she had incurred thus far and shot to her feet to press her attack again.

“You hired the Defias to capture her!” she used her spare dagger to try and stab at his throat, but he parried it with the stolen orange-red blade of Ragnaros, “But idiots looking for the bounty on her head slaughtered us while we were dealing with Kael’thas. What the hell were you thinking?!”
He smashed down her dagger and attempted to slit her throat with the twice stolen blade, but his attack cut through air rather than flesh, “It doesn’t matter who brings us her as long as it happens, the others are all expendable.”

His callous words pushed her further over the edge, and so Vanessa in her dodging motion felt no remorse in picking up his since discarded pistol to fire the weapon point blank into his body. The first two shot hit as intended, but he managed to knock her arm away with a powerful swing of his own. As he bled from his own wound, Telonicus grabbed her wrist and clenched it tight enough to begin breaking the bones beneath his gauntlet.

Vanessa growled painfully as she received a kick to her side that, in addition to the grip on her wrist, dislocated her shoulder. Fortunately for her, the poison she had hastily concocted was finally beginning to show its powers, and Telonicus stumbled as he felt himself grow rigid. His movements became more lumbering and less than a complete blur to his foes as the poison sapped his strength, resulting in him accidently releasing Vanessa as his original grip faded along with his power.

Even with one arm hanging limply at her side, Vanessa pressed this newest advantage and stabbed furiously at his black armor, “Ripsnarl and the others are dead because of you!”

Her attack made contact as the Elf continued to try and adjust to his new status, though an accidental stumble by Telonicus kept her from burying the blade in any vital region. She followed this attack up with a combination of slashes and stabs that kept Telonicus on his feet as Vanessa began to press him back.

Once he had settled into his current sluggish state of being, Telonicus blocked one of Vanessa’s attacks at the cost of the dagger he had taken: Vanessa caught it in the air between them, though this divided attention allowed for him to smash his head down into hers and knock her back. She fumbled to hold both daggers in the one hand, and so she ended up dropping her smaller one which was quickly taken by Telonicus to fight back against her.

“It’s not as if the Defias isn’t used to being wiped out. I mean, after what the mongrel bastard did to your father and his cohorts, you all ought to be pretty skilled at it by now!”

The reference to the first Deadmines battle that had caused the Defias Brotherhood to nearly be wiped out actually gave Vanessa pause even as it riled her up: what did this fool know about it?

“Mongrol?” Vanessa almost stopped completely at the odd descriptor he ascribed to the man who defeated her father, but by her next attack she had regained the furor she was fighting with, “Who was it?!”

“Oh, you don’t know?” he cackled, “Inform me, kid, what do I get from telling you? Seeing you so worked up is so much better!”

While avoiding Vanessa’s relentless pursuit and attacks, Telonicus continued to toy with her companions as he had Sylvanas try and kill each of them, only to fall short of the killing blow due to the intervention of one after the other aiding them.

“Each moment you fight, your loved ones suffer! How will it feel to lose your family for what, the third, fourth time depending on how we’re counting?”

Vanessa glanced over and could see that he was not actually wrong, with Sylvanas in one swift motion stabbing an arrow right through Lavitz’s thick armor, then taking another to try and stab at his neck. Timely aid from Kael kept the Human’s neck from being run through as well, but the man still fell over from having been impaled by an arrow whose magic burned him.

Telonicus could not help but revel in the fall of one foe, even if they were not actually dead yet, “And so ends Servi’s pathetic family! It is so sad to think that an accomplished Warrior’s only legacy will be his poor imitation of a son and harlot of a daughter.”

The wound would not end up fatal due to a quick series of healing spells cast upon the knight by Dirge, who began to help the other man up.

“You will be alright. Sylvanas is fighting his control and is not as powerful as she would otherwise be. If that was not the case, you would have died faster than any healer could fix you.”

Lavitz nodded in thanks to the man and also in agreement to what he had said: he could not afford to allow any more would-be lethal hits lest he not be saved in time by their sole healer.

“She is on an entirely different level…”

As this happened Vanessa’s fight with the one pulling Sylvanas’s strings was reaching a critical point as their attacks each came closer to harming the other. Vanessa was nearly dancing around her opponent as she sought to attack the weak points in his armor, only for her handicap to keep her from doing so: her more primary arm was the one that had been dislocated, and while she was still skilled with the other she was truly a two handed fighter and so she was at a disadvantage just as her foe was. Only, while they might both be handicapped, Telonicus had started off better than her thanks to the equipment he wore, so he currently had the upper hand.

An upper hand he used to land a savage blow to her good arm as she simultaneously landed an attack on him, the result of the exchange being that a sickening snap was to be heard as the bones in Vanessa’s arm broke while her dagger buried itself in his upper body.

With both her arms disabled, Telonicus took a moment to breathe and then laugh at her condition, thinking her quite literally disarmed for the time being. He was in pain too, but the same poison that was dulling his strength and senses also was keeping him from completely feeling it.

The moment he paused though was used by Vanessa to move forward, grab her dagger with her teeth, and then slash across his chest with it. He gasped as his armor was actually torn by the dagger, and it was not until she had slashed him yet again that he kneed her in the gut and grabbed the teenager to hoist her up in the air where she would be unable to continue such an attack.

Vanessa’s struggling caused him to lose his grip, but he caught her again by her short (for a girl) hair and lifted her up by that. He brought the dagger he had taken from her earlier up against her spine and prepared to taunt her one last time when she forced one shoulder against his arm forcefully, kicked him in the gut to put some distance between them, and then twisted herself around his arm to grab with her excruciatingly painfully fixed arm the dagger still buried in his chest.

Telonicus whipped her back into place by pulling on her as he held his grip even tighter, though his next attempt to stab her literally in the back was paused when he realized she was bringing her dagger up towards her head. Cut her hair to free herself, Telonicus rationalized, and so he smirked at her attempt to gain freedom from his grip.

“Cutting your—”

The blade plunged not into her raven hair, but into the hand holding it. Vanessa fell down and wasted no time in twisting around to plunge her dagger into his leg, while Telonicus cursed as his hand bled.

Vanessa had another objective though in stabbing that hand, and she soon seized an opportunity afforded to her: he had been holding Sylvanas’s controls with the same hand as he had Vanessa’s head, something she felt when grabbed, so when he dropped the girl he also dropped it.

Simply put, Vanessa stabbed her dagger down with as much force as she could muster into the mechanical device.

Telonicus heard the machine explode as its technological and magical components began to malfunction, and he looked down in horror as Vanessa rolled away from the mess, “Wait, what…”

He dropped the dagger he was holding to try and hastily stop his creation from blowing up, but it did so, and it did so in his face: its explosion nearly knocked him off his feet, and a well-placed arrow the moment afterward actually managed to.

The other battle, the one sided massacre that could not even truly be seen by those being beaten down, had ended with Sylvanas’s freedom, and she had taken no time at all to exact some of her planned vengeance against the man who dared to take control of her.

“I don’t have time for your games…” the blue skinned Undead hissed, “Telonicus, tell me, what made you think that you would get away with such a dirty trick?”

“I…” Telonicus muttered to himself as he pulled out another contraption of his own creation, this one appearing to be a small box with a button on it, “This isn’t the last you’ve heard of me!”

He pressed the button, and in the next moment the Elf had disappeared completely, no doubt having teleported or otherwise having removed himself from the area since not even the skilled Hunter Sylvanas could sense his presence any longer.

“How many devices does that fool carry with him? Can he not fight with his own strength?”

Sylvanas received no answer given that everyone else was dead tired or nearly dead around her due to her recent battle from which she emerged basically unscathed. Vanessa had collapsed post-victory, and the only one still actually standing was Trixie, who had been the one who set into motion Telonicus’s defeat by stalling him long enough for Vanessa to poison him. Still, without both of their contributions he would not have been defeated, while if it had not been for the protection afforded by Lavitz, Kael, and Karl they all would have died, as well as the healing from Dirge.

Since she was the only one capable of receiving thanks at the moment, Sylvanas turned to Trixie and decided she was worthy of them in the given scenario, “Thank you for freeing me from Telonicus’s technology. What is your name, girl, and for what purpose do you linger in my territory?”

Despite being winded and wounded both, Trixie tried to remain dignified as she gave a polite bow, “Trixie Lulamoon, Apprentice of Princess Luna of Equestria. I am a Great and Powerful magician who has come quite a long way to this land, and I now work with the true Kael’thas Sunstrider to reclaim his throne. We came here as a task handed to us from Stormwind’s nobility to defeat the Scarlet Crusade at the Monastery to weaken their stronghold on the continent, in return opening the table for negotiations down the road by having earned Stormwind’s trust.”

Sylvanas snorted at the explanation, not only because she knew not of any ‘Equestria’ or Princess Luna, but also for Trixie’s reasoning for being there, “You would work with the Alliance? Your people are beholden to the Horde, as are mine.”

Trixie shrugged, figuring that if Sylvanas was to feel like killing them there was nothing they could do anyways presently, “I have not truly encountered this ‘Horde’ yet and hold no loyalty to it, while Kael seeks to partner with whomever will grant his people peace.”

“That would explain the Stormwind Knight in your ranks,” Sylvanas’s eyes darted from Lavitz to Vanessa, “And the Human girl…a Defias member if I am not mistaken?”

Trixie put herself between them and held a protective arm out, “A girl I have taken under my wing by the name of Hope. You need not concern yourself with her.”

“Very well,” Sylvanas pointed to Kael lazily, who was barely conscious and bleeding from his forehead, “I would have words with your companion, but he does not appear to be in the mood. What do you intend to do where you are headed?”

“There is a group of Scourge necromancers and the like who we seek to defeat in a place called Scholomance east of here. The more attention we draw to ourselves, the less attention will be paid to the army we have, so we will conquer it and draw more like Telonicus to come after us. So long as Kael lives, they’ll want him dead, and their interest will remain so long as we stand in the spotlight of the world.”

“Crafty…” Sylvanas smirked at the misdirection this group was causing by merely existing away from its army. After a moment of thought Sylvanas realized that she was about to be done a favor by these wanderers who were trying to just create as much of a ruckus as they could, “And if you can wipe those idiots out I would appreciate it. Come to me when you are finished and you may even receive a reward for doing the Horde a favor. I hear recently they’ve stolen some bones from our own graveyards, not to mention some kind of special acquisition.”

That caught Trixie’s interest, “Special?”

“A green dragon of some sort I believe. Arthas uses undead Wyrms in his army, so they likely intend to harness the power of this one as well. I wouldn’t know more than that, since my aide Varimathras is the one who has kept an eye on them. Demons don’t tend to like their wayward slaves after all, just as Arthas detests my kind.”

Trixie smirked as she held out a palm for Sylvanas to shake, “It’s a deal then, we’ll come to Undercity when we’ve wiped out the Scourge dungeon. Will we have the opportunity to see more of the Horde there?”

Sylvanas ignored the gesture as she turned her back and began to depart, ready to put this…troublesome encounter behind her, “My city is far more crowded than that ghost town you Elves call Silvermoon. You’ll see your Horde, and perhaps come to recognize its strength: it is not something you should wish to draw the ire of.”

Before disappearing completely into the woods, Sylvanas turned around and looked with her red glowing eyes straight at Trixie in a manner which unnerved the latter for reasons she could not explain.

“Farewell, Lulamoon…keep the Princeling alive if you can. It would be a shame if that romantic fool meets his end before I can share my mind with him on some choice subjects.”

Once the leader of the Undead had departed Trixie rushed over to the sides of her friends, who were all groaning and moaning from the savage beating they just endured from the Undead elf.

“Are you all okay?”

“We’ll live…” Lavitz coughed once before forcing himself to his feet, at which point he patted Trixie on the shoulder, “You fought well. It seems your skillset has increased quite a bit since we first met.”

“Just remembering old tricks. Nothing to it, I am the best magician there is after all,” Trixie boasted in an attempt to cheer herself up.

“You should check on Kael. I’m sure he would appreciate it,” Lavitz whispered down to her as he nodded over to where Kael rest face-first on the ground and was trying to get up to no avail, “I’ll help out Vanessa, and Dirge seems to be working on Karl.”

Agreeing to this plan, Trixie moved over to her partner and helped him up and on to his back so that he no longer was forced to taste the grass and dirt of the forest, “How’s my favorite meatshield?”

Kael wanted to smile at her joke, but he was in too much pain to display his appreciation for the humor, “In terrible, agonizing pain. Sylvanas was as strong…maybe stronger than Dathrohan. I’m fortunate that idiot engineer wasn’t able to use her full strength.”

Trixie ran a hand gently over his forehead, wiping away the blood there while also showing her care for him in the tenderness used, “You’re always looking out for me,” she moved stray blonde hair out of the way so she could kiss him on that same forehead in what she felt was a considerate yet not romantic gesture, “Thank you, Kael. I don’t know how you put up with me.”

“Haughty…foolish…” his brain basically shut down when he felt her lips press against his face, and his only lament was that it had been on the wrong half of his head, “What’s not to love?”

“Yay!”

Trixie’s long ears perked up at hearing an unfamiliar voice, but she ignored it to lambast Kael for his playful insulting of her after she had just been so nice to him. She forced a health potion onto his chest and then moved up and away from him, crossing her arms as she grumpily looked away, “Very funny Kael. I was thinking of a way to thank you, but now I think I’ll just ignore you for daring to suggest I am anything less than perfect.”

“Yay! Yay!”

Kael did not think he was the only one hearing the voice of a young girl saying the same thing over and over again. At least he hoped he wasn’t the only one hearing it.

“Do you hear that?”

Trixie nodded and began to look around to see what was causing the disturbance, only to blink blankly as she noticed the cause, “Huh?”

A maybe seven or eight year old girl with blue hair and pig tails was running around the two of them in a wide circle. She had silver yet simple clothes on that had a tint of blue to them, and she had her arms out as she ran in an “airplane” fashion.

Confused to all Hel by this, Trixie held up a hand for the girl to stop running around so she could talk to her, “Ummm, excuse me, who are you and when did you get here?”

The girl relented and tackle-hugged Trixie, her voice cheerful as well as confused, “Big sister Trixie, it’s me, Nana! Don’t you recognize me?”

Trixie looked around quickly to try and account for all of their pets, finding Lavitz and Vanessa caring for a wounded Cookie, but not finding Nana anywhere. The hair color matched Nana’s blue scales pretty well…and the silver clothing was kind of like some of the rest of her.

Had Nana just done what Trixie herself was capable of, and changed forms from an animal to a person?

“N-Nana? But…”

Nana pointed to her mouth and laughed, “I ate a ring and now I’m a person too!” she turned to resume her running, which was quite similar to how Nana used to float around them all in circles, “Yay magic!”

Trixie stood and gawked as she tried to make sense of what happened, though the more she thought the more it came together in her mind…Nana had eaten a transformation ring of some kind, and Mana Wyrms did feast on magic, so had the Wyrm accidentally mimic what Trixie was capable of doing?

And if this really was Nana, what would they do with her now? She was a little kid now, not an animal with sharp teeth that could fight in dire situations. Trixie frowned as she realized that this, while cool in some ways, could become a problem given their present circumstances.

Nana paused her running again when she realized that Kael was trying to get a good look at her, kneeling down beside him and taking to his side like a loyal dog.

“Big brother Kale’floss, are you okay?”

If he had the strength at the moment to do it, Kael would have slapped his forehead in exasperation, but he decided to let it go since for Nana he was just happy she could do more than growl. To try and amuse the young girl though, he made light of his situation.

“Well, I was stabbed, and then someone who weighs as much as a horse crushed me—”

Trixie shot him daggers with her eyes, but Nana actually understood the veiled reference to Trixie’s condition and began to clap and ran over to Trixie to hug her again. Given her animal senses previously she had been able to find out the ‘secret’ despite not knowing it had been one.

“Big sister Trixie is like me! Horse-lady, yay!”

As Nana nestled herself in Trixie’s stomach, Trixie felt she had to ask something important.

“Nana…can you transform on your own? Like, go between forms?”

“Uhhhh…” the girl lost some of her excitement as she tapped her stomach and began to think, “I dunno. I ate the ring, and then when you used a lot of magic I ate that too and poof.”

If Nana couldn’t transform, that meant she was just a little kid now…and that would be dangerous not only for Nana herself, but for everyone else around her. Trixie brought a hand to her chin and began to try and think of a solution, “Hmmm…”

Nana tugged on her sleeve, “What is it big sister?”

“You’re even younger than Vanessa. I don’t want you to be in danger, but I don’t know how to keep you out of harm’s way.”

This prompted Nana to hold her arm out and try to flex it to show off her muscle, of which there really was none, “I’m tough! See?”

Kael, having recovered a bit thanks to a health potion, stumbled over to the two and gave Nana a soft pat on the head which was received happily by the former animal, “Trixie, I think we’ll have to keep her with us for now…not like we can just drop her off anywhere safe.”

Relenting to this since there really was no other option, Trixie nodded while looking down at the blue haired child, “Fine, but no fighting, okay Nana?”

“But…” Nana complained, being what one would consider a tomboy and actually enjoying being able to knock someone’s clock out. She wasn’t well built for it, like before, but she enjoyed helping out in the last fight.

“You’ll get hurt, Nana, like Cookie. I don’t want that to happen to you.”

If Trixie said so, then that meant it was what was best for her Nana decided. After all, Trixie was the one who saved her from that mean Hunter and had taken good care of her ever since. The only person nicer had been Mister Mitter’meyer and his wife, who had seemed to really enjoy having a pet while Nana was in Silvermoon and on her way back with Mitter’meyer, “Okay. If you say so big sis!”

Their group soon reconvened, with Karl nursing a head injury that would just need to heal a bit on its own given Dirge’s exhaustion from healing up everyone for so long, but the first thing said was not about what to do next but was Vanessa glaring at Nana as she hugged Trixie’s side.

“Who the hell is that?”

“Well, Nana ate a ring that had transforming properties it seems…” Trixie rubbed the back of her head as she flashed a nervous smile, not exactly sure how to explain what happened, “It seems to have had an odd effect on her, coupled with the magic she gobbled up from the battle.”

Nana abandoned Trixie’s side to run over to Vanessa and hug her too, “Big sister Nessy!”

Vanessa gawked as she was suddenly tackle-hugged like Trixie had been earlier, “I…”

Kael laughed at how annoyed as well as confused Vanessa looked at being shown such sudden physical affection, “Admit it, she’s cute.”

Nana agreed completely to this description as she continued to strangle Vanessa’s body with a tight hug, “Yeah!”

The former Wyrm decided she wanted to be held by Trixie a moment later and so she ran back over and clambered up to be held, accidently grabbing one half of Trixie’s chest on the way up and making her blush as Nana finished hoisting herself up from her new perch. Vanessa watched Nana and Trixie hug one another with distaste, crossing her arms and complaining, “Fine, okay, whatever. She’s cute. Does she need to be so clingy though?”

Trixie smirked, recognizing quite well the emotion being felt by Vanessa, “Someone jealous?”

“As if.”

As quickly as she had made herself comfortable with Trixie, Nana released herself by squirming and ran over to something she saw, her attention span being as low as that of a young animal.

What she had seen was Telonicus’s broken controller, and she bent over to look at it, “Oooh look, a broken thing!” grabbing it and hoisting it up in the air for the others to see, she beamed brightly, “Can I keep it?”

Trixie shook her head no, personally wanting to study it but also knowing that since it had exploded in multiple ways that there was likely little to gain from it and much to lose should it decide to explode once again, “It’s just scrapmetal now Nana. Leave it and let’s go find a new place to camp out for the night.”

“Okay!” Nana carelessly dropped it on the ground and then joined the rest of the group again as they prepared to head out, the young girl running ahead of them a bit, “Going for a walk! Going for a walk!”

As they walked to find a new place to camp, Kael whispered to Trixie, “Why do I feel like we’ve adopted two kids?”

“Oh quiet Scrooge, we’ll just need to find a nice home for Nana to stay once we get the chance.”

“I take it we’re keeping the other?”

Trixie shrugged, not really knowing the answer to that, “Vanessa does as she pleases, and for now that means helping us.”

“You said you wanted to talk when we get the chance. Do you still desire to?”

“Once we settle down again I think would be a good time.”

Their private conversation was interrupted by Nana, at the front of their group, pointing towards a light in the distance. They had been traveling for some time, but it was so dark that they did not know how long or how far, only that now they were coming across what seemed to be another structure.

“Is that a house?”

Trixie grew gleeful as she recognized the structure as one she had seen before in Azeroth, “An inn! Now I don’t have to wake up with leaves in my hair!”

Nana pouted unexpectedly, “But I like putting them there.”

Still nursing a powerful headache, Karl looked down and noticed their “newest” member.

“Am I only one who is just noticing small child?”

Author's Note

I got the name Nana from the anime Angel Tales, which is about a former pet owner who has his former pets reincarnated as people who then try to help him. Nana was a dog in it, and "Aya" is the sound she made...quite like the sound (Nya) Mana Wyrms make. So basically since the introduction of a Mana Wyrm three dozen chapters ago I've been angling towards precisely this moment.

Now Nana needs a home, since she's not exactly up to snuff with the other characters at the moment. I wonder if we know of any good families who could take care of a kid and who are good people...hmmm...

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Level 36: Web of Histories

A/N: Many, many thanks to the other sans, GamerGoddessDin, Checkmate, Housecarl of Clan Drops, Mister E, Kitsuja, PrinceUniversa, AdmiralPopeyesBeard, and EchoWing for commenting last chapter and showing your support! It really means a lot, especially since school has started again for me and I would be too buried in work to update if I was not aided by your support this past chapter. So thank you for the vigor you've afforded me for the time being!

On a meta note, I didn't want to, but this chapter is actually one piece in what was originally going to be a behemoth chapter. Rather than have it be too unwieldy I decided to split it into pieces, and it works well enough I think as a split one, but my apologies if the result is a slowed down pace...though part of the purpose for this and the coming chapters is specifically to slow down our pace and flesh things out a bit for everyone, so I guess that's not too bad.

I hope you all enjoy, and I thank you all for your continued support, since this chapter would be yet another week away if not for your enthusiasm and comments that inspired me to write it despite how busy life is right now!

"Hello, we are travelers who would be most grateful if you would allow us to stay in your humble abode this night."

While exhausted and ready to fall over, Trixie still tried to pay some respect to the maybe-thirty year old dark haired Human man who greeted her at the door of the inn their saw. He was a relaxed soul, not taking the sight of a group of beaten and bruised travelers with surprise at all and instead he appeared as if he was slightly embarrassed he did not have likely all the medical care they would need to be in perfect shape.

He rubbed the back of his head as he stepped aside and gestured with his other hand for them to come in, not minding at all the night-time visitors.

"Of course, come in," after having invited them in he looked inside and gently called out the name of someone his tone implied was someone familiar, either a friend, family member, or employee, "Julian, would you mind helping them settle in?"

A sandy haired boy that looked like he was in his mid teens, perhaps fifteen to seventeen at the oldest, came from a room in the back and worked on helping their new guests come inside, sit down in the case of the more wounded such as Karl, and find rooms and put their things down. Despite having finally come to a place where they could all sleep, no-one particularly wanted to go to bed just yet, least of all Trixie who felt utterly worn out while also not at all feeling as if she could sleep. Perhaps it was the exhilaration of the battle, but something else kept her mind wandering.

The innkeeper's face...Trixie felt as if she knew it, but could not explain why. Looking around at her group of assorted lost souls, she had a similar feeling, but she could not explain why it would be. She hadn't really had the feeling before some of her memories returned, but except for Kael she did not know why that would be.

After everyone had settled down in the main floor's large 'hall' of sorts where benches, tables, and very home-y things existed for the comfort of guests, the innkeeper returned to what he had been doing before they arrived: reading a book by the fireside, calmly spending his day even as the world around him shook with political turmoil.

"I guess you all likely had something to do with all the commotion in the region the past day or so?" the young, but still older, man asked Trixie, who was taken aback by his perception. Word couldn't have spread too far yet, so he had managed to piece together that conclusion just by looking at them. They did appear ragged, but to the untrained eye they would just look like a random motley crew of adventurers. Perhaps if Dirge had not cast aside his former Scarlet Crusade garb it would have been easier for one to guess their group was abnormal, beyond the mixture of opposed races it contained, but that had been done specifically to prevent backlash stemming from the Scarlet Crusade's poor reputation.

Kael, who had made himself comfortable laying across a long bench and laying his head down on Trixie's lap, was the one to mumble a response, "Perhaps."

Trixie played with her partner's hair in a caressing manner as she felt him nearly drifting to sleep, his body no doubt calling for a coma's worth of rest after how brutally he had been beaten in ways he could not even keep up with or see. While she comforted him, a thought crossed Trixie's mind about the location of this inn and how not long ago they had encountered Undead...who seemed less than friendly towards living Humans, "I am a bit curious, I am surprised that a normal Human settlement is on its own here. Don't the Undead pose a threat to you?"

This did not seem to really surprise the laid back innkeeper, who just shrugged as he smiled down at his history book, "Technically the Scarlet Crusade holds power over this area, and until just recently there was a Monastery in the way. Besides, I'm just a retiree who offers a roof for travelers and who spends his days reading history books. I don't have much in the way of money, so bandits and the like don't have much to gain from coming here anyways."

His response was less than pleasing to the survival-orientated Vanessa, who could read a mile away that personal safety was not the first concern of the man. She had been the only party member to continue standing since they arrived, partially because she wanted to be standoffish and brooding, and partially because she wanted to nurse her still sore arms away from the others so they couldn't see just how badly they still hurt after having been healed. She closed this distance from the others though to approach Trixie and lean over to whisper in the older woman's ear.

"This guy is an idiot. When we leave, we should rob him blind. Maybe then he'll pack what bags we leave and he'll go live somewhere safer."

It would actually benefit them, giving them supplies for the coming days, but also possibly force the lax man into doing something that could perhaps save his life. It was the pragmatic, smart thing to do in the criminal girl's mind, since her mind was one to think of the past, the present, and of a few steps forward...but not far into the future. Doing such an action could bite them later if it was revealed the party of Kael'thas Sunstrider plundered a poor man of his belongings, but in Vanessa's mind she wanted to get to that later point before quibbling over the consequences of her actions.

The innkeeper didn't hear Vanessa, but he had noticed something behind the Rogue that made him look up for a brief second before returning to his history book with a lackadaisical smile still on his face, "Julian, there's no need for that. Surely you can help Frederica in the back?"

Vanessa's eyes dashed wide open as she realized that someone was behind her, the girl twisting around and throwing herself diagonally back evasively. The teenaged boy had snuck up to the thief and had been ready to pull the trigger of a gun should she prove a threat with none of the party wary until he had been acknowledged by his guardian. The boy paused, eyeing Vanessa with deep distrust and near hatred before leaving the room to go help the person the innkeeper spoke of.

Even after he left Vanessa had trouble calming herself down, her body trembling...mostly in fear at how close she had been to death, but also in something she couldn't exactly explain beyond 'excitement'. The danger posed to her fed her like that of an adrenaline junkie, having lived her whole life on the edge and having been deprived of many truly close calls recently. Whereas once every day she was an inch from death, even with the battles against the Crusaders and Telonicus she was less in-danger than she had been.

She would never admit it, but the kind of danger just imposed on her person was something she enjoyed beyond her own understanding.

As Vanessa tried to calm herself down, Trixie snickered at the display. If things had escalated she wouldn't be happy, but now she didn't have to really play bad cop and demean Vanessa's brutal idea like Trixie had been about to. Instead she gave a joking mockery of it with a laugh, "That's karma for you. You need to stop having nasty thoughts, Vanessa."

The topic was diverted when Trixie felt something burying its head in her back, that being the blue haired little girl whose pigtails resembled the fins of her previous form. Nana was the most tired of the group and the least harmed, so she was just ready to actually go to sleep unlike the others.

"I'm tired."

Trixie brought a hand over her shoulder to pat Nana on the head, "Go find a bed Nana, little girls like you need their rest."

A woman with honey brown hair exited from the back where Julian had gone, bringing with her some light food for their patrons to snack on. As she came in Nana trudged across the room and dragged herself upstairs where their rooms were, and the sight of the young Elf gave an erroneous idea to the matron of the facility as she placed some bread down in front of Trixie and Kael.

"Is she yours?"

Trixie took a moment to understand what she meant, though she soon figured it out, "Oh no, we're not married. As for Nana...it's...it's a long story. Until this afternoon she was a Mana Wyrm, so I'll just leave it at that."

The woman gave a wry grin, seemingly amused by the revelation but not too surprised as if she were used to such oddities in Azeroth. Her close proximity to the guests revealed their bruised and harmed status far better than she could have noticed from afar since their wounds were for the most part fixed, while only the pains and aches remained, "You all look like you could use some medical care. Give me a moment, I'll be right back to help you."

"Let it not be said that the Undead don't pack a punch. I'm glad they're on our side..." Kael smirked as he realized that such a claim was not universally applicable in the room so he gestured to Trixie and himself, "Well, ours at least."

As the woman left the room to go get some things to help with the pain of the travelers she called back to them, "I have some leftovers of my husband's cooking and more serious food I can prepare for you all while we see to your wounds. Would that be alright?"

Trixie blushed as she felt embarrassed suddenly by how kindly they were being treated. They could have been turned away for being Elves, they could have been thrown out when it was made known that they were the cause of the area's activity recently, etc, etc, yet they were being offered food and treatment for what remained of their wounds after Dirge exhausted himself on healing despite it barely being something he could do on a whim.

"Thank you, Miss..."

The hostess returned with a first aid kit they kept in the house and began to tend to the closest members to the room's exit, those being Karl and Lavitz, who had been the ones looking after Nana before she left to go sleep, "You can call me Frederica. You've already met my husband Yang, and Julian."

With plenty of food and with their remaining wounds tended to by their three hosts, Trixie's party grew settled in to the serene inn. It seemed untouched by the war going on around it, and stood in welcome contrast to the excitement of the past few days for the group save the teenager-brooding Vanessa who was silently sulking in a corner. It was during this downtime that Trixie noted the presence of a small army of books just laying about the room on shelves, tables, and in some piles on the floor right around the innkeeper Yang.

Trixie still found herself fascinated for some inexplicable reason by the man, and so she watched him read calmly by the room's heat source for a short while before speaking up in a voice directed at him.

"You seem like the well read sort."

He looked up with a smile and shrugged, not seeming to really mind the interruption, "Perhaps. I find learning about history to be fascinating, especially when it has consequences or relation to what's going on in the world."

"I'm too tired to sleep yet, I know it sounds weird," Trixie smirked at the irony of her situation, then asked one of the things that had cropped up on her mind, "If you know a lot about history, mind if I ask you a bit about it?"

"What would you like to know? I don't know everything, but I can lend you what knowledge I do possess."

"Forgive me for my ignorance, I am amnesiac and have a lot to relearn," Trixie partially lied: she was amnesiac, but she wasn't really forgetting much of anything about this world she was guessing, "So, this world is named Azeroth, correct? I know this is only one continent of it, but I know little of the others."

"Well, to begin with this continent is known as the Eastern Kingdoms. To the west is an area known as the Broken Isles, a dangerous realm few visit for many reasons be it deadly waters or deadlier Vrykul who populate them according to some records," the innkeeper paused as he drew a small map on a piece of parchment nearby him to show Trixie, "To the west of them is Kalimdor, a region not as vastly populated as the Eastern Kingdoms at least not by the major powers that exist today. At the top of the world is Northrend, an icy land populated by the Scourge army of the Lich King, and finally to the south there is the rumored continent of Pandaria, but its location is hidden by thick mists that dissuade sailors from entering. Overall, the Eastern Kingdoms are home to the Alliance and the Horde's main settlement is located in Kalimdor."

That satisfied her geographic needs, so Trixie moved on to something else she had been wondering about: the war going on.

"What exactly is the Horde? And the Alliance for that matter?"

"Well, the Horde is an amalgamation of races that have banded together for their mutual survival. It stems from the Orc tendency to form a 'Horde', really an army based culture that seeks out war and crush opposing armies or 'Hordes', but in this case it is far more peaceful than other examples in recent history. While it is at war with the Alliance, it is more concerned with actually improving its internal structure and is not just a war machine."

Trixie could see the smile on the man's face and could see that he was in his zone at the moment. He likely was only an innkeeper to earn a little extra gold on the side as he lived in his quite home away from the main Human settlements, while these books were his passion and what he wanted to dedicate himself towards.

"Of the races comprising the Horde, the one that can be considered the body are Orcs. If you haven't seen one before, they are green skinned humanoids like you or myself that have in general a broader build and are a tad bit taller than Humans. While they certainly are not all like this, they are well known for their warlike nature and tendency to place value in honor and their warrior spirit rather than cunning and intellect. Power means a great deal to them, and they do not submit easily, the exception being if they recognize the strength of the ruling individual."

Kael slowly sat up from his relaxed position to sit right beside Trixie on the bench, his ears having perked up much like Trixie's long ones as they listened intently to the innkeeper.

"Currently they are led by Thrall, who actually leads the entire Horde and is the founder of its current iteration. He is a powerful Shaman who utilizes the elements of nature to lead his people, and is quite atypical of what one would expect of an Orc leader in that he is peaceful by nature. This likely stems from his youth, where he grew up as a slave to Humans and had brutality shown to him time and time again. While not as war mongering as one would expect though, he is more than willing to take part in the conflict when it is necessary, and despite certain efforts some time back he is not brokering peace at the present, possibly due to not having any receptive ears amongst the ears of the Alliance's leaders."

With no-one stopping him, Yang continued to give his history and politics lesson to the others in the room. The only one uninterested was Karl, who stabbed at some food offered to him so he could chew it better even though his jaw was sore from his earlier humiliation at Sylvanas's hands.

"Thrall made the Horde with the aid of a few others who still lead it today, such as Cairne Bloodhoof the Tauren and Vol'jin of the Darkspear Trolls. At the time there were many conflicts going on, be it yet another conflict between Humans and Orcs, an invasion of Demons, and in-fighting, so there was a strict need for working together where it did not exist before. By forming the Horde and leading them through the many hardships, he is the one the Horde now turns to for leadership even if his nature contrasts with some of the more conflict-orientated races."

Yang sipped some tea and cleared his throat silently before continuing his lecture for the others, quite happy to share his knowledge with someone else other than his family for once. Most visitors did not really care for long explanations about history or about political matters after all, leaving him to just think of the matters in his own head rather than deal with them more openly.

"In contrast, perhaps I should mention Thrall's old and now deceased friend Grommash Hellscream. A master of combat with his howling axe Gorehowl, he possessed more readily the warlike nature of the Orcish people. First to enter battle, first to win or lose, Grom was quick in both action and mind, rushing ever forward to satiate his need for battle. Part of this may be because of how he doomed the Orcish people to a blood curse by having them drink from the blood of a demon named Mannoroth to gain the power he offered them, a curse that turned them into tools of the demons seeking to rule Azeroth. After being the one to lead his people into the curse, almost all of the Orcish race suffering from it, Grom sought and found redemption in slaying the demon Mannoroth though it came at the cost of his life. He's survived by his son Garrosh, who while older than Thrall in age is far less seasoned by experience and is younger in mind than his father's closest friend."

Trixie tilted her head at his claim that Orcs were such a major part of the Horde, since she had not come across any except for those in Silvermoon yet...and they were not exactly a part of the same Horde as the one being spoken about, "Where are all these Orcs if they are such a major force then?"

"Well, as I mentioned, right now we are on the continent known as the Eastern Kingdoms where the Alliance mainly is situated, whereas the Horde and the Orcs in particular are mostly confined to the continent to the west known as Kalimdor. Exceptions exist of course such as the Blood Elves and the Forsaken, but one must remember that the Blood Elves used to be allies with the Humans and that the Forsaken are fallen Humans and Elves who have been risen from the dead, so their proximity to the Alliance is to be expected."

The answer made sense to Trixie and so she smiled, kind of looking forward to meeting one in real life when she would get the chance, "You mentioned Trolls and Tauren, but I don't think I have seen those races before. What are they like?"

Yang refilled his tea cup and began to slowly sip from it again, "Both are quite unlike the people you have likely met here in Kalimdor, for Trolls and Tauren alike are more inclined towards mysticism and magic concerning nature rather than technology and arcane magic like Humans or Elves. Trolls are extremely tall and possess lean bodies with firm muscles while their mouths have large tusks, while Tauren are are large in the same way as Orcs but even more so, being large cow-people if I were to simply describe them."

"Do they have top udders like Humans or bottom ones?"

Trixie's question caught Yang off guard, and he did not really understand what she meant, "Top udders?"

"Trixie..."

More understanding was Kael, who sighed as he realized Trixie meant 'breasts', but had likely forgotten the word from off the top of her head and just went back to her default: where four legged animals had nipples lower on their bodies, like cows and horses, unlike how humanoids tended to have them higher on the body. Despite sighing Kael found himself looking at her own chest, which he had grown semi-immune to after days of waking up with it on top of or touching him. Only semi though, for she still possessed a beauty he believed one could only craft, not be born into...which in a sudden thought he realized made sense.

Trixie wasn't naturally an Elf. However she came to be one, it might have something to do with her ability to transform. He wasn't sure, but it was completely possible that Trixie had purposefully chosen a body others might find appealing. After all, she possessed an ego and liked being the center of attention, so it would make sense if it was just one further symptom of her psychology. He certainly could not think of another Elven women they had come across yet who shared anywhere near the same attributes distributed across both chest and hips, and that would make sense if Trixie, ignorant of what Elves really were like when she transformed or outright aiming for an inaccurate depiction, had chosen to be like this.

Thinking further, Kael had another thought: Trixie had been appealing to him since the moment he laid his eyes on her. And while attractive enough to draw the attention of other men, she seemed to have features that were directly appealing to him. They had both waken up with amnesia in the same place at the same time, so was it possible that Suntrider Isle was not the beginning of their journey together?

If that were the case, beyond the obvious implications, did that mean that Trixie was subtly trying to attract him? She truly did seem clueless about matters such as personal space, nakedness, related privacy, and anything sexual, so how would that factor in? Hel, she just called breasts 'top udders' since the correct name wasn't readily available for her.

It may have been a silly question from Trixie, who was curious just based on how the Taurens were cow-humanoids which posed a weird mental image for her, but mixed with a small dose of innate lechery from Kael he actually came to discover a possible thread of information about the two of them.

The question at the end of his inquiry was one he had pondered even before though, but now with new reason: if she so obviously held some form of affection for him, why didn't she just come out and admit it?

Trixie eyed Kael with confusion after he said her name rebukingly, not getting what was wrong with her question but also not caring enough about the subject to argue over it. After a moment of looking at Kael looking contemplatively at her body up and down bit by bit, Trixie looked back to Yang and decided to get back to hearing stories that could remedy her lack of knowledge about the setting she found herself in, "Sorry, go on."

Yang rolled his eyes when he noticed where Kael'thas Sunstrider's eyes had gone, having sized the Elf up as the prince the moment he came in sight but was not going to bring it up if they weren't going to, "Well, for some more basic information on them, Trolls are longtime rivals of Elves and as such are less trustful of them, and the Tauren detest the supposed taint they feel off of Blood Elves whose arcane addiction contrasts with the more natural powers of the earth. Should either of you meet with them, I'd suggest you bring with you some accomplishments or gifts to make up for this distrust," he paused to think briefly before letting out a small sound of surprise as he remembered something he should mention too, "Oh, and as for their leaders, they are lead by the Shadow Hunter Vol'jin and Cairne Bloodhoof for the Trolls and Tauren respectively. Vol'jin has not been active in recent memory except as to serve as Thrall's highly competent right hand in the Orc capital Orgrimmar, while Cairne is elderly and not as disposed to taking direct action these days. It's expected that his son Baine will replace him in the coming years, but for now Cairne is a respectable leader and statesman so he remains as the leader of his tribe."

So, Trixie thought, if Kael were to reclaim his title as Prince Sunstrider, he would be allied with someone she decided to dub 'Green Jesus' from her limited recollection of Earth, a tusked huge guy, and a cow. Somehow, Trixie thought, she ended up with the most superior specimen of the lot in the form of a handsome prince who was noble like it sounded the others were, but also wasn't a cow...and Trixie didn't really care for the color green itself, which was why she found it fun to once upon a time make someone's hair that nasty color. She was neutral on tusks, since large tusks was a vague term and she was imagining anything between a few inches and a few feet.

"The Tauren live on a plains named Thunder Bluff southwest of Orgrimmar, which itself is on the eastern coast of Kalimdor on what amounts to a near mirror of where we are currently. The Trolls are currently inhabiting the same space as the Orcs for some reason or another that escapes me, but I believe it is because they have lost access to their old home. Since the Trolls and Orcs share much across their basic natures, they get along quite well compared to some of the other members of the Horde, making Orgrimmar a powerful consolidation of power within the Horde's structure."

Trixie decided to say something to feel smart as well, even if she knew she was hopelessly outclassed in terms of information, "The Undead are closer to the Elves though, right? Since Sylvanas was an Elf too?"

"That is correct, and their closer unity is what has allowed them to stand against the mostly Alliance dominated continent so far. If the Alliance were to wield its strength it could easily pick apart either, but they have their hands tangled with many other affairs at the present time, and their leaders do not seem capable of implementing such simple military strategy," the innkeeper nonchalantly suggested as if they were talking about the weather.

This seeming sureness about the easily conquerable nature of Silvermoon sent off warning signals in Kael's mind, and so he pushed the issue further with narrowed eyes and a frown, "If you were to invade, what would you do?"

Remembering again he was talking to a prince much like the one that was currently in Outland, yet was far more sane than that one, Yang shrugged again and laid out his plan while trying to not sound too offensive to the leader of the Blood Elves he was speaking about defeating, "The Forsaken and the Blood Elves are separated by a Scourge army to the south of Silvermoon and to the north east of Undercity, rendering direct travel time consuming and costly for large groups. While a device exists to allow instant transportation between the two cities, and flight can also be considered, there still is the matter of logistics. A teleportation device meant to be used by one person at a time is not ideal for funneling an army through, so the Alliance could with its combined might of Humans, Dwarves, and Gnomes focus its greater might against the diminished Blood Elves."

Lavitz, the second most military seasoned in the room, spoke up in curiosity after having tuned in a bit ago. He had been whispering with Karl about how Kael was literally undressing Trixie with his eyes, the two speaking of bets and the like, when the conversation caught his interest, "Why the Blood Elves and not the Undead? They're closer, aren't they, making supply lines shorter?"

This idea did not put Yang off at all as he basically swatted the suggestion aside with logic, "Either campaign would have a long supply line and would need to be accomplished swiftly to prevent either Horde faction from wiping out the supply lines to achieve an easy victory, both sharing the same weakness that could be just as easily exploited. As such, attacking the Blood Elves, even if they are a bit farther, by heading around the eastern side of the continent and bypassing the Undead entirely would allow the Alliance to force the Forsaken into a trying predicament: send their forces on foot to aid the Blood Elves, which could be too late due to Scourge interference, or try to enact the cumbersome tactic of sending their one by one through a teleportation device? A mixture could also be used, but to separate the army would make defeating each portion of it easier."

The room fell silent at this casual suggestion about how to completely overtake Silvermoon City, and no-one could really counter it since it made sense...sure there were hypothetical phenomena that could derail the idea, but Kael checked the map Reuenthal had given them and found that there was actually a way to just ignore the Forsaken settlements to head straight to Silvermoon, at the cost of encountering some other threats, but nothing that could likely match the combined might of the entire Alliance on the continent.

They just needed to do it, but they weren't, for which Kael was grateful...was the Alliance ignorant, stupid, or aware of something they were not?

Yang continued his thoughts further to solidify his argument, "So, in doing this, hypothetically, the Alliance could have the advantage. But to win even easier they could first draw the Forsaken down south with bait, or wait for their army to be committed to some other affair somewhat distant from Silvermoon or Undercity. This way no matter what decision the Forsaken make, they will be too late to effectively implement either plan to aid their comrades, and once Silvermoon falls they would be the only major Horde power on the continent. Surrounded entirely and not possessing direct aid except occasional blimp shipments from Orgrimmar, they would fall then to the three on one advantage the Alliance would possess."

Trixie flashed a pouty face at Lavitz, who had been taking in the strategic lesson with great interest. The man was not plotting against his allies, but rather thinking about how to use similar tactics when he would have need of them.

"Don't get any ideas," Trixie commented, receiving playful laughter in response from her friend.

"I don't plan to stab you all in the back. But still, I have to say that such a plan does make sense...it just would require the Alliance to deal with the third party threats on the eastern side of the continent as they move along, such as the Scarlet Crusade. But if they could muster all their armies, they could probably do such a thing. Neither Silvermoon nor Undercity could launch offensive campaigns of their own in this scenario, being strapped for resources and manpower as it is, but this would exacerbate the issue and render them offensively incapable since the moment they would step outside their gates to take advantage of the unguarded Stormwind or some other city, they would have more swiftly lost their own capital and lands. Sylvanas and Lor'themar have lost one city, I do not believe either wishes to do so again."

Trixie's ears perked up again as she heard mention of another thing on her mind, "Mind telling me a bit about Sylvanas? We may or may not have run into her earlier, and you know so much that I bet you know a thing or two."

"Well, to start with she is the former Ranger-General of the people who would become known as the Blood Elves. She died at the time they were defeated by the Scourge and so she herself is a former High Elf and not Blood Elf, not having been a part of that re-naming process or the fallout of the Scourge's attack," Yang sighed as he thought back to the fall of the High Elves, "While a capable and cunning leader, and an even better archer, she had a remarkably poor showing when the former Human prince Arthas came to attack them. What should have been relatively easy to repel was not, and she along with so many of her kind were slain back then."

This recollection of events gave pause to the speaker when he noticed Kael grow tense. It went unstated that Kael himself had not been present at the time of Sylvanas's defeat, of the massacre of his people...he only arrived just in time to see the ashes of the kingdom he had once called home. To see former allies rig everything against him in an attempt to finish off the job their enemies started.

After a moment Kael calmed himself down with a soundless sigh, prompting Yang to speak again about the subject at hand: Sylvanas, "Because she had personally defied Arthas during the invasion and traded words with him, he decided to raise her from the dead and force her to serve his army and the Scourge as a pawn in the further destruction of her own race and the world itself. Unfortunately for him, she would not linger as just a mere ghoul for him to direct, and using her natural trickery she would steal from his and the Lich King's control the minds of the Undead known as the Forsaken. Admittedly, while we live in close proximity to them, there is not much literature concerning their history and so I cannot say just how Sylvanas managed to achieve this, but it is for this reason that they are separate from the undead Scourge and capable of rational thought unlike the many mindless beings that comprise the Lich King's army."

Lavitz shook his head at the thought of being controlled in death, "If I were to die, I would wish to stay dead. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for Sylvanas to serve under the man who slew her."

Karl shrugged, having just had his brother brought back to life, albeit in a more wholesome manner thanks to the mercy of the Light, "Life is life."

"I wouldn't mind getting another chance at things, even if it meant suffering through humiliation and the destruction of my pride," Kael noted with some bitterness as he thought about the horrendous actions of his counterpart.

Not wanting the mood to keep souring, Trixie nudged Kael and shushed him, "Trixie is trying to listen to story time, so shhh."

Receiving a look from Trixie to continue, the innkeeper continued to humor her with information, "Likely as a form of mockery, the capital of the Forsaken is located in the ruins of the old Human kingdom's capital that fell when Arthas returned not as its wayward prince, but as an agent of the Scourge who callously murdered his own father just as he would later murder his own mentor Uther."

Trixie realized one part of the Horde hadn't been spoke of yet, so she inquired about the missing piece of information, "What do you think of Silvermoon and the Blood Elves right now?"

Yang gave a half embarrassed, half nervous look over at Kael, "With permission to speak freely..." Kael gave him a nod, not minding if the other man had any criticisms of his people: perhaps he could strive to fix them when he managed to reclaim his crown, "Well, Silvermoon has recovered from its near complete destruction back at the time of the 'third war' when so much of these events happened. In that capacity it is doing well and thriving given its circumstances, though it has mainly sat on the sidelines and remained neutral until recently when it joined the Horde. This is perhaps due to their grudge against Humans, but also bad relations with certain members of the Horde."

It was Kael who pressed for information next, his mind considering a rival to his power at present, "And the man who leads it? I believe his name is Lor'themar Theron or something along those lines."

"He is a capable warrior who served under Sylvanas in her time as Ranger-General, paving the way for their working relationship now, though if one were to observe it one could say that it is not a partnership so much as it is a master and servant relationship born of Sylvanas still treating him like he is just another one of her subordinates," Yang's voice was amused as he noted the odd relationship between the two leaders, though his voice grew disillusioned as he spoke of the man's track record, "While he is militarily accomplished, he is not really notable for his statesman qualities and his only real achievement on that front is keeping Silvermoon together these past years after Kael'thas Sunstrider appointed him the leader of Silvermoon."

The unpleased voice contrasted with what was said, drawing confusion from the others present, thus prompting the kind innkeeper to explain himself.

"Of course, this accomplishment is mitigated by the rumored brainwashing and force implemented by his regime, meaning the unity he has achieved could be shattered if these tools were to be removed. While he is most certainly doing what he is doing to preserve his people and keep them from falling apart, that is a similar path one might note to that of the now disgraced Kael'thas Sunstrider in Outland. He sacrificed everything for his people, but now he is the one posing a threat to them."

Trixie looked over to her partner, who was looking down at nothing as he thought over dark matters in his head. She took his hand reassuringly and smiled at him, showing her continued faith in the man she had traveled with for not even weeks at this point yet she trusted with wholly.

She knew something about him he didn't yet, but she still had not found the right moment to come out and say it.

The Kael she was traveling with was the same man as the one in Outland...the only difference was time, and Trixie believed with her heart that she possessed the later model. That was why that time traveling gnome-dragon had shown up before...the Kael Trixie had with her was an anachronism.

There was a lot in-between the insane madman in Outland and the lovely man who would do anything for her or his people she traveled with, and a part of her feared what might happen if he knew, thus her hesitation. He was both the same person and not, being the same soul and body, but not the same mind. She still was fuzzy on the transition between the two, or the exact circumstances, but she had come to that realization when she remembered her past...

She remembered a mana craving zombie fiend choking her almost to death to steal her magic who looked awfully like the man she slept next to at night.

"So if that's the Horde, what's the Alliance like?"

Author's Note

For any who might be mindfucked by the end of the chapter, I apologize for the time being...you'll know soon enough, I promise. It's just a result of me splitting the chapter into parts so it was not too large. Makes for a hell of an ironic cliffhanger though, given that it wasn't intended and just coincidentally fits nicely into a chapter end since the Alliance bit was the cutoff I decided on, not it. Of course if you want to learn faster, go read We Remember Everything...everything connecting that story to this one will be revealed within Setback, don't worry, but the answers are there should you choose to look for them.

We have had a lot of fights and whatnot in the past ten chapters, so I thought it would be good to slow down and do some "world building" so to speak. I mean I always try to weave that into fights where I can too, but I know I needed a rest from battle after battle so I'm guessing you all did too.

This being said, I have framed this section so that I can answer in-story any questions you guys may have! After all, I've been building the world around what has been important to the story at the time with a bit being more far-reaching, but some people just plain don't know about Warcraft so this is a chance to catch up a bit so to speak. I have a blindspot of sorts since I know so much so it makes it difficult to write for people not in-the-know, since I might assume someone knows something they actually don't, but I've been working hard to counter this ever since the beginning (with the occasional rest experience chapter for example) and this is an extension of that.

So, for any Warcraft lore questions, ask away! We have a master of lore here, so feel free to do so! After the next chapter or so, I will even open the floor a small bit for more Equestria based questions...you'll see why soon enough!

Anyways, thank you for reading, and I hope to hear your thoughts (and perhaps even questions) in the space below. Just try to keep them within the range of what Trixie and the others might actually ask! I have a whole section of things that will already be asked just as a direct follow up to what was said in this chapter, but if there is anything in particular you'd like to have added go right ahead and ask below!

Level 36.25: Stemming the Scarlet Tide

A/N: Special thanks to PrinceUniversa, Kitsuja, the other sans, AdmiralPopeyesBeard, and EchoWing for commenting since last time! Your thoughts are very much appreciated, and I hope to continue hearing from you!

This chapter has some new players to our little story...some you'll likely recognize off the bat :raritywink:

I hope you all enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments below! Your support recently has been what's allowed me to write so much in such a short period of time! This is basically spillover from the chapter before when a lot of people weighed in and I managed to churn out quite a bit!

"Luna!"

"Celestia..."

"You shouldn't be holing yourself up in your room so much. I know it's difficult, but you need to deal with this."

"I wonder if this was how mother felt..."

"What do you want me to do, Luna? What do you want me to say? That it's your fault? That I'm sorry? Tell me, because I've lost my sister once and I'm not about to let you slip away when you're right here beside me."

"How are they?"

"Missing their mother. Don't neglect them and repeat the mistakes of our past."

"Why, is Hela crying for her mother?"

"You and I both know she can't, all the more reason for you to be with her and not sulking over these shallow graves. Your drove your first away, you need not do the same with your second."

"Lieutenant!"

Having landed in the closest Scarlet Crusade stronghold of any true size and strength, the escaping Crusaders from the Monastery were ready to collapse from their ordeal. While some had managed to find some rest on the overcrowded vehicle, most had been too paranoid about their situation to sleep on the way or too rustled from side to side to even attempt it. As such, Lieutenant Messa did not respond when he heard his rank called as he departed the zeppelin and stumbled into the base. He had no particular reason to react to it anyways given that it was a lower rank on the totem pole and many others held it as well, but its coming repetition would eventually grab his attention.

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant Jerid!"

A blonde woman with the delicate features of a civilian were noticed finally by Jerid as he hazily turned his attention towards where he could hear his name being called. He had been mentally frozen for hours, reliving the traumatic experiences he had suffered in such short order over and over as he sailed to safety, and now he was facing the first truly new input since he had been pulled aboard the zeppelin.

"I..." he brought a hand to his head, which had become bruised from the struggling to get on the ship and to stay on it in the related chaos. The throbbing from the wound distracted him some, but it did help draw him out of the fog he had entered since he had collapsed on the zeppelin, tortured by the memories of his best friend and his mentor both dying in front of him, "I'm sorry, who are you?"

The woman pushed her way past some wounded soldiers to meet with Jerid, her slender body able to fit through the crowd of armored figures as if she had done it before. She took a moment to look around Jerid as if to find someone before smiling to him instead and giving a small bow to the man bruised in body, ego, and soul.

"My name is Amelia, and I don't know if he mentioned me, but I'm Kacricon's lover," she smiled brightly at Jerid after standing up fully again, "He's told me so much about you that I knew it was you. He spared no detail about his best friend. He said you were like a little brother to him."

One of the Crusader's knees almost buckled as he heard her, though he was fortunate enough not to show his surprise and despair due to a flare in his chest that left him breathless and conspired with his leg to force him to fall down. Amelia held out a restorative potion to him which Jerid hastily grabbed and consumed, his body far sorer than almost any other survivor of the affair and his manners forgotten in the deep pain throbbing through him at the moment.

The rudeness of his grabbing the potion offered was ignored, since Amelia could see just how much the battle had taken a toll on him, and in fact had brought what she felt was enough for her husband, his friend, and a few others they may have brought with them.

Once Jerid had finished the vial of healing liquid, he dropped it to the ground and panted for breath given how hard he had chugged it. Ignoring the shattering potion container, Amelia began to look around again for her husband, "I heard you all were attacked but that many escaped and were coming here, so I came to meet Kacricon. Do you know where he is?"

Jerid's face seized in pain, making Amelia reach for another potion at first since she thought it a symptom of his wounds, only for her to pause when she thought she saw his eyes tearing up.

"Jerid?"

The normally loud mouthed man who spoke his mind too much was unable to open it as his mind cruelly played for him the horrifying sight of seeing his best friend incinerate before him thanks to that teenage brat Vanessa...the same child who had taken Lila's life, Jerid helpless to intervene in either instance because of his own weakness at the time. He felt bile in his throat as he felt blame internally mount upon himself for being unable to help them, but it began to fade into a pool of fury as he pictured the face of that raven haired girl who had days before humiliated him only to later kill his friends and defeat him in combat.

A mixture of pain and rage on his features gave away what his lack of words both hid and implied: that their shared connection was no longer a part of the world.

Amelia gasped and took a step back as she realized all this, her previously soft and kind features replaced with horror, "No, you don't mean..."

While some of his wounds had been further fixed by the healing potion, many others still lingered since not even that Elf lookalike had fully managed to heal him from all Jerid had suffered. His emotional grief sapped the willpower he had been using to stand and so he soon bent down on one knee as it came crashing down beneath him. His fists balled up as he used them to support his weight in lieu of his useless leg, and so he remained there in tears as he struggled to find a way to deal with the now grief stricken woman before him.

"Lieutenant..."

Silently watching the two's interaction was the woman who had pulled Jerid aboard the zeppelin when it was launching. The aqua haired woman was not one of those suffering from major wounds, and so she had stepped aside as their healers all came forward to tend to those in need, but she had lingered close enough to watch the man she had saved.

"Pathetic."

Blue-green hair moved to one side as the woman turned to see someone now standing beside her, someone she recognized quite well: Brigitte Abbendis, their current leader now that Dathrohan was out of the picture and perhaps even dead. Abbendis was looking down at the wounded lieutenant with scorn, though it was not just scorn born of seeing him in this weak state, but rather something unknown to the others.

Abbendis paid a minor glance to her subordinate as they knelt before her, "My lady, I apologize. I did not expect you to come meet us in person."

Like Amelia, Abbendis had come to locate someone in particular, and as she stood a few dozen feet from the Lieutenant she found herself looking where there ought to be someone but could not find anyone, "I..." she stopped her search and scowled while shaking her head irritably, "I needed to see someone."

"If there is anything I can do to help you find them, it would be my honor to help."

While grateful for the proper respect being shown to her, Abbendis did not care to reveal her secret so easily, "If he was here, I would have found him by now."

This was taken by the younger Crusader woman to mean that Abbendis was looking for Grand Crusader Dathrohan, who would have been quite the presence and thus easy to locate, not that Brigitte was searching for her secret lover who had been sent to the Monastery right at the time of its fall.

Suddenly feeling appreciative of her subordinate's proper manners, Brigitte decided to remember them for future occasions, "What is your name, soldier?"

"Trainee Mouar Phara, ma'am."

Staring down at the collapsed Jerid, Abbendis thought privately for a moment before nodding down at him and then turning her back on him to walk elsewhere, "Bring that man to me when he has recovered. You will not have much time for rest though, only tonight, for I am sending you both on a mission."

Mouar was surprised to receive orders directly from their leader, but she did not hesitate in snapping a salute or in inquiring about the subject matter, "A mission, ma'am?"

Her boss did not want to explain it twice, so she waved her hand to dismiss the other woman and dissuade her from tagging along, "That's all for now. I expect you both to report to me the first thing in the morning."

While Abbendis left, Mouar stayed behind to look back over at the man she saved as well as the widow who had fallen to he knees beside him. Whereas he could not stand from the physical pain he felt, Amelia could not from the shock she was in: she had figured that if anyone could have survived, it would have been her Kacricon given that he and Jerid had been at the top of their trainee group. Unfortunately being the best of your class meant little when one was then thrust right into warfare involving others far more powerful and experienced.

"Jerid..."

Elsewhere, Abbendis had found where many of the veteran Scarlet Crusaders were gathering from the retreat and so she began to call out to those she still wished to find: her initial concerns were over, and now she had to attend to her administrative duties.

"Whitemane! Mograine! Report!"

The two officers in question were at the center of those gathered, being the ones nominally in charge after Dathrohan fell and given that Doan had died earlier at the Monastery. Whitemane stood up to face Abbendis, leaving Mograine on the ground where she had been healing him of wounds suffered during the retreat on top of those remaining from the battles he fought against the invaders.

"A force led by Kael'thas Sunstrider assaulted the Monastery..." Whitemane began as she tried to justify their loss, "If he could raid Silvermoon City, it is not wonder he could take the Monastery."

Abbendis strode past Whitemane and to Mograine, who she had been told was a good part of the reason they had lost the fortress, picking the one armed man up by the throat. She began to squeeze the life out of him with furious zeal as she yelled, "He did not have an army of Fel Orcs or that brute Kargath at his disposal this time!" she threw him down onto the ground and barked at him, "Now get up, stop licking your wounds, and do something about this!"

"Please, let me finish tending to Mograine, he-" Whitemane tried to intervene, but was brushed aside by her leader's righteous anger: Mograine's quest for glory cost them one of their most important facilities, and could actually have just weakened their army to the point where they might lose this standoff with the undead armies surrounding them.

If Azeroth had any real knowledge of them, they might call Brigitte's attitude hormonal with how furiously she chewed out the now sniveling Mograine, who despite all his delusions of grandeur was weaker than her by a large margin, "Any weakling begging for healing after a crippling defeat they allowed deserves whatever pain may come their way. I entrusted the Monastery to you all, and what did you do!?"

"They defeated the Grand Crusader..." Mograine choked out in pain and fear both, not sure of what to say in order to save himself from her fury: he was not well known for his intellect or judgment, just his brute strength and experience.

"I can tell that, or else it would not have fallen! Where were you when he was being assailed by these meddlers, Mograine? Where were you, Whitemane?!"

There were no more excuses the two could offer for being defeated by such an inferior force, and so they lapsed into silence with the hope of their leader calming down when not given a retort.

After a sixth of a minute passed in silence their prayers were answered, and Abbendis visibly lost some of her edge as she worked off a good deal of the anger and grief she was feeling then, "I will deal with you two later, but know that this discussion is not over. I will see to it that this defeat does not go unanswered!"

Seeing an opportunity, Mograine crawled up to kneel before her.

"Allow me to regain my honor and defeat those who caused our humiliation. I know how dangerous they are now and will not again underestimate them."

Nodding once, Abbendis kept her eyes narrowed at her foolish subordinate, "You will lead one half of the team I will send for our revenge and no more."

"And the other half, my lady?"

"I received a letter from Dathrohan sent before your defeat of a group of soldiers he had taken interest in. Only one now lives, but if the Grand Crusader saw potential I will not be the one to squander it. I am assigning Lieutenant Messa to lead the other half I am sending, which will be comprised of our rookie and junior members," Abbendis revealed her interest in meeting with the defeated Jerid the following morning. If Dathrohan saw potential in him, then Abbendis was willing to give the man a chance even if he looked to be in a sorry state after everything. At least he had not lost them the conflict unlike Mograine, and reportedly had gone toe to toe with one of their more deadly members, a young Rogue who had infiltrated their ranks if the yammering of those who escaped the battle meant anything.

Mograine could have been irritated that he was going to be basically sharing the operation with a rookie, but instead he grinned at the opportunity, "Leaving the experienced soldiers under my command?"

"Do not waste this chance I am giving you. I will not be so forgiving of another failure. The Crusade cannot afford another setback."

"As you wish, my lady," he bowed to his leader's command, his mind not truly heeding her warning but instead beginning to turn and consider how this would benefit him.

Whitemane stepped forward and knelt down on a knee, "May I participate in this campaign, Grand Crusader?"

"Do not call me that yet. Dathrohan is missing, not slain," Abbendis corrected, "And as for your question, I already said that I had assigned Mograine to redeem his honor. I expected you to follow after him whether I ordered it or not, so go and be wary of disappointing me further."

With this Abbendis stalked off to be by herself and left the two officers behind, who in turn were left alone since soldiers had begun to funnel away from the landing site to get rest or to be better taken care of medically. Once Abbendis was out of earshot Mograine slammed his fist down and growled angrily at his present circumstances.

"So many threats...who does she think she is?"

Whitemane looked around to make sure no-one was listening in on them, wary of anything treasonous the man she loved was about to say, "She is our superior."

"For now," Mograine spat before twisting his face into a sick smile, "But this will be the perfect opportunity for us. If we let that rookie wear them down, we can defeat those upstarts and take the credit for ourselves."

Whitemane grinned at the thought of using their weaker subordinate for their own goals, as well as whatever forces would be afforded to him, "How unfortunate for the cannon fodder..."

With Whitemane's power to raise the dead, they could just throw these recruits into a meatgrinder of combat, then swoop in and deal the finishing blow to their hated enemies. This was a thought they both understood and shared at the same time, with Mograine verbalizing it to his own glee.

"We throw them against them again and again, then seize an opportunity presented to us and redeem ourselves for what happened at the Monastery. And then from there, we may be able to lead a more noteworthy campaign...one which grants us a platform to seize even more power now that Dathrohan is out of the way and that twat Abbendis is fully in charge."

While they were plotting, however, others were mourning. The shell shock would not last much longer for Jerid, whose rage and desire for retribution would soon subsume any other emotion he had, and elsewhere Brigitte was mourning what she considered to be the loss of her lover, whose lack of return from the battle broke her heart given that she had only just opened it for the first time since her father's death. Not only that, but her surrogate father figure Dathrohan had been lost and was as good as dead with how the Undead had swarmed the place. Her condition manifested itself with intense nausea that cost her what meals she managed to choke down, and she would remain locked in her own room there without visitors until the next day at dawn when she gave her decree to bring those who conquered the Scarlet Monastery to justice.

"Harbaron, I see that you've brought me gifts..."

"It is just as you predicted, my Lady. These invaders to our realm must be punished for their insolence! Their flesh still burdens their souls..."

"Leave the Night Elf for Guarm, my pet could use a good meal...I think I shall let our soulflayers have their way with the other before I bother dealing with her."

"As you wish, Lady Helya."

"Mortals...so foolish. They battle over life, when death is where they shall spend eternity. But you know that already, don't you, my pathetic captive? You thought you could come here, to my realm, and do as you please? Hah! I shall make you suffer the agony of death you visit upon others for the rest of your miserable existence."

"Bitch..."

"I do hope those will not be your final words. You never were very talkative, but do not worry, I will be bringing you a companion to perhaps converse with. I hear some others are looking for her, but what do the bumbling efforts of mortals amount to but incompetence when compared to gods such as us?"

"Nothing to say? I could make this easier for you if you just give me the secrets of your power...no? Well then, I suppose the sounds of your screaming will have to do. Will you be as tight lipped when your sister is the one having her soul shaved away, I wonder?"

When Yang was about to speak about the Alliance, he was interrupted by a sudden cry from someone.

"Hey!"

Dirge had caught Vanessa attempting to steal from him the letter he had just finished preparing, the object in one of her hands as he gripped the other arm's wrist and kept her from escaping. It seemed like he was restraining himself, keeping his power back so as to not actually harm her despite his seeming desire to for how she dared steal directly from him.

"You reacted faster than I thought you would. What's a guy like you doing with a pretty sealed letter with a rose attached to it?"

This drew everyone's attention, especially the bit about having put a rose along with the envelope. Trixie snickered at first when she saw Vanessa playfully trying to undo the seal on the envelope to open it and read it, foiled by her only having one hand to do so and a magic seal being in place, but Trixie recovered from her first impulse and put on a disapproving face.

Karl, seated semi-close to the Priest, shrugged and took a swig of pain relieving alcohol, "Flower? Maybe iz one of Priests who like little boyz."

Vanessa continued to laugh at her party member's expense as she tried to escape, finding herself unable to even with all her strength to the teenager's surprise, "Hah, so who's it to healer guy? Come on, tell me, I promise I'll only tell everyone here."

"That is none of your business, child. Return my letter at once!" Dirge yelled again as he tried to reel Vanessa in.

Trixie crossed her arms and played the part of reprimanding parent since she was the only one there really capable of doing so to the girl, "Now, Vanessa."

"Oh come on, I just want to take a peek. Shouldn't we be wary of the traitor guy who just joined us? What if he's mailing some secret plot against us to the Scarlet Crusade?"

Trixie shrugged, not really worried about Crusaders now that she knew they could kick their rear end in droves while also not naturally distrusting others like Vanessa likely was used to, "When I met him on the road to the Monastery he wasn't a bad guy, so I doubt he'd change his character between then and now," "So give him his letter, Vanessa. I bet you wouldn't want people reading your diary, would you?"

"As if I have a diary. I'm too old for that sort of thing," Vanessa scoffed, playing her denial off convincingly.

Using telekinesis, Trixie picked up one of Vanessa's own bags and dumped its contents out onto the table in front of her. Ignoring Cookie plopping out of it and flopping onto the floor, she found what she was looking for: a well used notebook of sorts that had multiple bookmarks in it, and a magical lock on the side...which was currently not active since Vanessa had not thought to close it in all the many events going on since she met up with the group.

Trixie smirked as Vanessa's draw dropped, having found this when she was ruffling through everyone's things earlier for bread. As she began to read aloud Vanessa thrashed in Dirge's grip to try and free herself more seriously, wanting to do anything to stop Trixie from actually reading from the diary.

"Page thirty four, Infiltrated Silvermoon City today. Posed as a half-Elf orphan by wearing fake long ears over my own. Why is the security here so lax? There's like one guard every fifty feet, unlike Stormwind where they are everywhere. I think I forgot Father's mask somewhere, but I'm sure I'll find it before I leave. Saw a young Elf propose to a blonde Elf lady who looks like she could be his relative, though the idiot man bought yellow roses," Trixie was trying not to laugh as she amused herself on the contents, "Every man should know that yellow is for friendship, red is for love! When I grow up I won't need such trifling gifts, but it still is an appalling display all the same. While they were distracted, I ate a pie she had made in their own living room, and I must say she is an excellent chef...I should have grabbed her recipes before I left, but I heard them come inside and so I left-"

She stopped when a previously concealed dagger on Vanessa whirled across the room and knocked the diary away with amazing precision. Having made her point to Vanessa about messing with other people's things, Trixie put the journal and things back (including stuffing Cookie back into the bag while he still was dazed) but kept the throwing knife.

"See? Not very nice, now is it?"

Vanessa grunted as she ceded Trixie's point and tossed Dirge his letter and rose back, "It's only fun when I'm the one taking people's stuff."

Dirge let go of her wrist and made sure no damage befell the letter or its attached item with some worry. Once done he let out a sigh and turned to the now sulking Vanessa who had her arms crossed, "If I tell you something you don't know, will you spend your time stealing from your substitute mommy and less prying into my affairs?"

Her interest piqued, Vanessa still kept herself restrained as she decided to bite at this opportunity, "There's plenty I don't know, and I don't care about a lot of it. What sort of something?"

"I know someone related to you who still is alive, perhaps more," was the flat, matter-of-fact response that made everyone else in their group do a double take. Vanessa gaped for a moment before scowling and pulling out her main dagger threateningly, no longer joking around whatsoever.

"If you're lying I'll make you pay."

Looking up at her briefly, Dirge pointed to her blue eyes, "Your blue eyes aren't all that common for a pure blooded Human, actually being quite the rarity, where brown eyes are most prominent. That means the chances of someone with the same eye color being related to you are greatly increased over some random bystander."

While this was true, it did not impress Vanessa much since she still knew plenty of other people with blue eyes, "And? So what? A bunch of people still have my eyes."

Dirge continued his deduction nonchalantly, explaining step by step his argument for what would likely be a shocking reveal to the child while being a mild form of amusement to him, "Further narrowing the pool down is location. You are far more likely to be related to someone living in proximity to you than someone far away in most instances. That means your family likely comes from Westfall, where your Father moved, or Stormwind, where he was from. They aren't his eyes after all, so they must come from your mother."

"I didn't know my mother..." Vanessa said slowly, not sure where this was going now. He had probably just narrowed the list of possible relatives from thousands upon thousands to probably a few hundred or so, maybe a thousand. That meant his odds of having some true family revealed for her were increasing, even if they were still slim. She certainly was of the belief she was alone in the world...but what if she wasn't?

Dirge glanced over at the historian in the room who held his hands up in a way that said he didn't want to get involved really in this little spat, "And there aren't known records of any spouse to Edwin VanCleef, despite how notable he was to the Humans in the area. You would think there would be some knowledge about her disseminated around the area, even if only on the rumor level."

Kael was the first to nod and give him some credit for what he had said so far, understanding the man's logic so far, "He has a point. Still, there must still be many people who fall under such a large umbrella."

The Priest flashed a smile at the only person supporting him thus far in his argument, "Since there is a lack of knowledge, someone most likely is covering up her identity. But why would they do that? Who cares what the identity of VanCleef's lover is?"

Vanessa bit her lip as she realized that there weren't many who could afford or had the power to do such a thing, and those who did were the people she hated the most in Stormwind, "A...noble?"

Dirge shook his head, though his tone implied that she was nearly correct, "You are on the right track, but there is no way your father would take a rich noble as his lover given his hatred of them. Instead, it would have to be someone from an honored family who had a reputation to lose, but also are common born so as to not be unattractive to Edwin VanCleef."

Trixie nudged Kael and whispered happily, "It seems we have picked up someone quite intelligent."

Despite her whispering Dirge still heard her, and so he gave a graceful bow to the compliment as he deflected his own skills.

"Simple deduction is all I am using. Now, continuing onward, how many notable yet not noble families are there in Stormwind? How many of those produced daughters?" having narrowed down the possible candidates to the single digits, Dirge turned to a member in their group from Stormwind and gave him a knowing smile, "Lavitz, how fares your sister these days?"

The knight turned his gaze away, an old wound opening on him that he doubted would ever heal. It never would, for it was the reason his mother pressured him to bring home grandchildren: his sister never would.

"She passed away years ago."

To finish his point, Dirge tapped the space next to his own eyes, "And pray tell, what color were her eyes? Just out of simple curiosity."

While Vanessa looked between the two men in disbelief, Lavitz kept his eyes averted before finally looking up to Dirge with a sense of defeat. He could not have kept it a secret forever, and it seemed now it was going to come out whether he wanted it to or not.

"How did you know?"

"You hinted at it yourself when Vanessa was fighting my old comrade Jerid, and it just naturally came to me from there. You have been keeping an eye out for her beyond what one would expect of a man who was imprisoned and near tortured by the Defias Brotherhood ought to."

Vanessa shook her head and laughed, her mind not wanting to believe that a man she had starved for weeks, perhaps even months, was her biological uncle, "He's joking, right?" her laughter died down as she saw that neither man was indeed joking around, "Right?"

Dirge shook his head no again, a smirk on his face as he managed to be the one to humiliate the girl who sought to do the same to him moments before, "Now you had best keep your end of the contract. Do not take any more of my things. If you feel the need, I am sure your uncle would let you take nearly anything since he risked his life to find you."

Vanessa darted off to go upstairs and separate herself from the others, tugging on her bandanna to hide most of her face as she retreated away from those who could see whatever emotions she was about to display. Trixie rose to follow her, but Kael stopped her with a hand, "She probably needs a moment to herself. Leave her be."

Lavitz had to admit he was impressed with the intelligence of their newest ally, though he was annoyed that he no longer had the ability to reveal that secret to Vanessa himself...still, perhaps it was best this way, since he was not even sure he would have had the courage to do so, "What else have you figured out? I take it I am not the only one you have figured something out about."

Dirge pointed to Trixie, "You are looking after Vanessa to compensate for the parental abandonment you feel and have been unable to resolve," he moved his hand slightly to point at Kael, "You doubt your ability to lead your people since either you are somehow like the tyrant in Outland or are inexperienced due to your amnesia and thus unsuited for leadership," he swiveled to point at Karl, "You actually enjoy the chance to get back at Stormwind by serving a Prince whose people are in opposition to them, something that contrasts with the fact you ransacked the Scarlet Monastery on Stormwind's orders."

As Trixie gawked, Kael sat uncomfortably, and Karl drunkenly ignored the conversation, Dirge pointed his finger upstairs and then to Trixie and Kael at the end of his next observation.

"Vanessa feels she cannot live up to her father's legacy which is why she is trying to act stronger than she is, while also carrying tremendous guilt over some family matter unknown to me which is why she is protective not only of the fish thing she brings with her but of the closest people she can relate to, that being this group, particularly you and you."

Kael was a bit surprised by this summation, pointing to himself in confusion, "Me?"

"You gave her the bandanna belonging to her father and helped her, so she feels indebted to you," Dirge then glanced back to Trixie with a raised eyebrow, "She also has unresolved issues concerning the death of her father, probably having seen his corpse or something similarly traumatic, given how infuriated she was at Telonicus when he pressed the issue. Are you going to tell her that one of your associates was the one who did it?"

Trixie averted her eyes, knowing full well that one of her friends had been the one to defeat Edwin VanCleef, "I don't know what you mean."

"It may be better that you let her know now so that she does not go on a rampage when she does find out. You won't be able to keep both of them if she tries to murder the other after all."

Lavitz scowled as he thought about the possible psychological effects of letting Vanessa know one of their biggest allies was in fact the person to cause her father's death, "Lay off it, Dirge."

Dirge smirked at the other man, seemingly drawing amusement from the man's strong moral code and empathy for his niece that bordered on masochistic given what she did to him, "You asked what I know, and so I have told you. I may know things, but that doesn't mean I'm all that nice, unlike you. You're nice, Karl is apathetic, and I think too much for the comfort of others."

Trixie noticed something and tilted her head to signal her confusion, "You have more theories about Vanessa than anyone else."

"I have not had enough time to deeply study more than one of you, but I chose your girl follower because she is a former enemy who now works with you."

"If something were to happen, if someone were to betray us..." Kael started to say, understanding what the former Crusader meant.

"You would assume it would be me, unless I have evidence that it was someone else. So I am keeping my eyes out on the former criminal who holds her thieving ways more tightly than the purses of those she steals from," he shrugged and sighed before adopting a self-deprecating voice, "Since my healing powers are sub-par, to do my job I needed to have other skills: keen observation allows me to identify illnesses and infections so that I can better remedy them."

With how astute the man was, Trixie snapped her fingers and grinned as a thought came to her mind, "You should be our spymaster!"

Kael whispered to her in a concerned voice, questioning her naming practice after naming a pet after the sound it made and now giving a silly title to someone, "Spymaster? That's a silly title, Trixie. Almost as ridiculous as Grand Engineer or whatever Telonicus was named."

"You're just jealous I came up with it," Trixie pridefully replied before turning her attention back to their newest addition, "But yeah, you're really smart, and someone's got to pay attention to all the little details nobody else will, and hear things most people can't or won't."

Dirge gave a grateful smile and nod to her, "I am not in this for your revolution, but for now I think we have a mutually beneficial arrangement: the Scarlet Crusade will hunt me down anyways for turning against them, and they will hunt you all too, so we can band together our efforts against them."

Something came back to mind for Trixie, who randomly added in, "Also, I don't have mommy issues."

"Yes you do," came a chorus of responses from everyone else save the hosts, who merely grinned at how unanimous the opinion was. This team effort made Trixie balk, and she turned to the others in the room for help.

"Innkeeper, they are ganging up on your poor guest, will you save me with more history knowledge to drown out their traitorous voices? I seek knowledge about the Alliance!"

Author's Note

Another piece of what would have been too huge of a chapter to just release all in one go. Here I took most of the outside events and the like and put them together into one document, and then brought things back home with our dear protagonists.

In Warcraft Legion they are introducing as one of the dungeons a dungeon they used to call Helheim but they changed to Helmouth Cliff, led by someone named Helya...pretty hilarious to me since I've intended since day one for this chapter's reveal. Now because of this I have in-universe justification for what I already planned to do, so everyone wins!

I hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! I left just enough hints in there for every "secret" in this chapter to be solved if one were to try, so I am curious what you all think and what you can come up with. If you're confused at all, don't worry, we're in a very explanatory part of the story so if you have questions they likely won't linger for long :raritywink:

Level 36.5: Of Alliances and Empires

A/N: Special thanks to the other sans, Kitsuja, and mastermenthe for being the only ones to comment on the last chapter. :twilightsheepish: Was a bit lonely, but hopefully this chapter will spark some discussion! After all, it's one I've been waiting for...for good reason. The plot and mystery thickens, and I look forward to your thoughts in the comments below!

I feel like this song fits well with the latter part of the chapter given the chapter's title, so for any interested, keep it handy.

"Still pining after your own brother's wife I see. Perhaps it isn't that surprising, this is the anniversary she chose him over you, I do believe."

"Tyrande..."

"Love is not an unlimited resource, like so many others. You put your whole heart into someone who would not return those affections, and now you live even thousands of years later suffering from that mistake."

"We do not choose who we love, Sunstrider. It is as much of a mistake are the circumstances we are born into."

"At least yours chose a foolish man who means well rather than an even greater fool who would go on to become the greatest monster of our age."

"Perhaps we should have swapped loves...Mine chose the gentler of her options, while yours chose the darker."

"If only such a thing were possible...it will take me a lifetime to even think of another..."

"Do you still love her?"

"A part of me always will, for I cannot recover the emotion I have invested in Jaina, but I can choose to use what remains of my heart to love others."

"It is good that you have come to wall yourself off from what may never be. I know the same, but cannot take that advice myself."

"I can only not fall into the despair as you have in love by focusing those small pieces left on my people. Just as I once would have done anything for Jaina, I now will go to any lengths for my people."

"Even after all he has done, I hear she still loves that Human...the Lich King. How nice it must be to forever be loved, even when one does not deserve it. To be loved even after everything one has done, to be loved even in death."

"A feeling we shall never know. Such is our place in life, to suffer quietly while others prosper without having earned it...though, you do have one eternal follower. Someone who would follow you to the end of the Earth."

"A woman who seeks to slay or imprison me for all time does not count."

"Still, to have someone go so far just for your sake must be flattering. To have someone who has bound their own fate to yours for all of eternity...if only the line between love and hate was not so thick."

"..."

"I will leave you to your reminiscence. But remember, if one only looks to the past, they very may forsake their future."

"The Alliance is kind of similar in that it is populated by various races who came together for their mutual survival and prosperity, but whereas the Horde tends to favor more primalistic and aggressive races such as Orcs and Trolls the Alliance favors more crafty and passive races such as the Night Elves and Gnomes. Falling somewhere between the two mindsets are Humans, who I am sure you have plenty of experience with by now if you have been in the Eastern Kingdoms long."

After they had settled in again after the incident concerning Vanessa and Dirge, their innkeeper had resumed his expositional onslaught by going over the other major faction that existed, the Alliance, as per Trixie's questioning. Kael had nodded off and was sleeping in Trixie's lap while she listened in, his desire for knowledge greatly eclipsed by hers since many of these things were coming to him intuitively while quite a lot was actual news to Trixie.

Trixie nodded to Yang's assumption, "We've been to Stormwind. Not as nice as Silvermoon in feel, but adequate I suppose. Still, I am all ears for what you have to think. I find your perspective and knowledge on these matters enjoyable."

Yang took a sip of his tea, which had a small amount of brandy poured into it by him after it was brought by his wife, and responded to his guest in a relaxed voice, "Well, after the last major war Humanity was fractured. The royal lineage Arthas was a part of was vanquished by his own hands, meaning someone else had to take power. Replacing him following the war was Varian Wrynn, whose mixture of martial and state prowess enabled him to take Humanity from the brink of collapse and weld it into one of the two major powers today. It was not in the best of situations after Garithos had his way, with him falling in with Sylvanas and foolishly believing she would uphold her deal with him. His bones should be somewhere around here, since he was slain at what we now call Undercity, in case anyone were incensed enough to want to spit on his grave."

Lavitz grew tense at the mention of the former leader of the Human forces in the region, while Trixie only grimaced as she looked down at the still sleeping Kael. Both men had unresolved grudges against Garithos thanks to his death, so it was almost an injustice that they would be unable to face him down thanks to him already having died.

Yang spoke again after drinking some more tea, "Now, because of one matter or another, Bolvar is missing and the crown doesn't really like people knowing too much about that. His son will become ruler, but is too young at the moment so they have others running the show for him. Of these, perhaps Bolvar Fordragon is the most prominent, with Lady Prestor serving as an important adviser."

This brought Lavitz out of his tense state, with the soldier nodding in agreement, "Bolvar is an honorable man who I think Stormwind is fortunate to have. If not for him, Lord Wrynn's disappearance may have caused the collapse of our infant Kingdom. Bolvar's term of regency over Stormwind has been dutiful, though perhaps lacking in wisdom."

Trixie thought about how, thanks to the disturbed timeline, she had met Wrynn himself rather than Bolvar...but for Kael and Lavitz they thought they had instead met with Bolvar and Anduin briefly, since Chromie had fixed things seemingly and changed the anomaly back to how it 'ought' to be. Muttering to herself, Trixie regretted her misfortune for not having her own memory altered like the others, "Too bad I didn't get to meet him..."

Responding to Lavitz rather than the mumbling Trixie, Yang's face showed that he was unsure about the other man's faith in the current regent of Humanity, "Bolvar might be the cause of Stormwind's current survival, but it's really hard to say just what would happen if one person were or were not someplace at a certain time. Such is the course of history that even if one thing changes, other things may override that thing and render it moot. If he had not stepped up another may have, either more effective or less effective as the case may be."

"What I find interesting is Lady Prestor's part in the whole play. Her influence is great currently, not only directly over Bolvar himself but also by filling in a certain pseudo-motherly role to the young Anduin Wrynn. She also has ties to the nobles of Stormwind who stand opposed to the people of it. After all, the Defias Brotherhood only became a nuisance to Stormwind because they had been slighted by the nobles to begin with. How much money would they have saved I wonder if they had just paid them in the first place instead of having to fight a small war of sorts with determined engineers turned thieves?"

Trixie was partly glad that Vanessa had removed herself from the room, since the mention of the Defias might have pushed her back into a violent mood. The teenager still had a lot of issues to work out before she could even be considered halfway well-adjusted, but at least she was taking a first step of sorts by clinging to a group of people whose morality was higher than her own. She could have left them already, her assumed debt paid by helping them in the Monastery, but she was remaining with them and actually listening (for the most part) to what Trixie said and wanted her to do.

"So, my thoughts are this: what will happen if someone opposed to the people of a nation shapes the future ruler of that nation? Of course my assumption can be wrong, but a rumor has floated that she had something to do with the nobles' betrayal of the Defias Brotherhood. There are always a million rumors at any given time, only some of which will be true, even partially, so even that should be taken with a grain of salt."

The only one in the room personally familiar with the mentioned lady clenched his fist as Yang's words hit his ears. Lavitz did not have any proof that the adviser to the royal family was actually a threat or danger, but the simple idea of it made him feel energized enough to sprint all the way to Stormwind for the safety of his Prince and of the people of Stormwind, "Prestor..."

Having heard her fill on Humans, Trixie decided she was bored and wanted to learn more about something else...something she was tempted to create a game or sport out of after her time in the Stormwind arena, "What about the small people of the Alliance? I punted one in an arena match, so I admittedly do not take them very seriously."

"That must have been a Gnome. They are admittedly small and not the greatest at physical tasks, but they are renowned for their intelligence and resourcefulness, with Gnomes probably possessing the majority of this age's best engineers," Yang grinned wryly at the thought of Trixie punting a gnome in an arena, "On the other hand, Dwarves are more physical and are stubborn to a fault, possessing powerful constitutions and rock solid bodies that make them quite capable in the realms of physical combat and also in mining and processing metal, a fortunate fact relating to or perhaps a result of their habitation of mountains as far as history books seem to remember. They both currently reside at a place to the south of Undercity and North of Stormwind known as Ironforge, which is a fortress buried into the side of a large mountain range."

"We saw one of those too. So many small people..." Trixie nodded, remembering the more stalwart of the two tiny humanoids. Her curiosity sated on them, she didn't question further: they weren't seemingly all that major of a force when compared to say the Undead or Humans, and as she admitted she did not take them seriously given that they were to Humans and Elves what ponies were to actual horses.

Left free to talk as he pleased, the innkeeper spoke of another member species of the Alliance, "In complete contrast to the Gnomes and Dwarves are the Night Elves, who are based on an island to the northwest of the Kalimdor continent, and are both tall and dedicated to nature just as the Dwarves and Gnomes are their crafts. The Night Elves were previously a third party who only dealt with the other races when they posed a threat to the nature they encountered, but they have become more active in conflicts following the events of the third war."

"They're related to us, right?" Trixie asked while pointing to the sleeping Kael and then to herself.

"Yes, and not even in a too-distant manner. Elves live long lives, with some Night Elves spanning back a good ten thousand years, so while your species diverged they still are somewhat similar. In terms of magic, they are most comparable to the Tauren I believe since they both draw their power from nature and are very mystical rather than mechanical or arcane. Whereas a Blood Elf wields pure arcane magic power, a Human or Orc may use common martial power, and Gnomes and Dwarves heavy machinery, the Night Elves commune with nature, particularly animals and even trees to use the powers these other species and beings hold."

"There's a Night Elf named Illidan I think. Isn't he in Outland leading his own army?"

"That is correct. He is the brother of one of their leaders, Malfurion Stormrage. Illidan is an interesting man, one who I believe will have many contrasting books made to tell the tales of his actions and questionable morality. To tell you of all his exploits would take a good fraction of his ten thousand years of existence on Azeroth, so perhaps that can be a subject for another time, outside of whatever generalities you are curious of."

Trixie used a hand to signal there was no need for that, "No, that's fine. Are there any other members of the Alliance?"

"Well, more recently we have been joined by an alien race known as the Draenai...I must say I have not had much contact with them yet, and only know that they are purple or blue like Night Elves while possessing squid-like features on their bodies, at least for the males. Word has it their females, who lack the same tendrils that are comparable to facial hair, are seen by many as the most beautiful in the land."

Kael nodded as if it were just a fact based on his experiences, "Confirmed."

Dirge rose a hand to his chin, "They do look like Succubi, I believe. It would make sense why a species meant to allure others being resembled by another would result in the latter species being considered attractive by many."

Trixie pouted at this revelation that perhaps she was no longer a part of the prettiest species, "I should have woken up as a Dratini then."

Yang chuckled, "The Draenai are comparable to the Blood Elves in terms of their suffering, which makes their opposition to one another noteworthy. They are something like the playthings and victims of the demonic Burning Legion, meaning they are quite familiar with torment, so maybe being one would not be all that enjoyable."

Dirge spoke up next, having a Crusader's knowledge of the demons who spawned the Undead problem on Azeroth, "Fortunately the Burning Crusade was repelled here on Azeroth previously by the combined efforts of the Alliance and Horde. While not wholly defeated, it may be years before it can return in true force, and even then it will be without the aide of one of their most powerful members, Archimonde."

"He's right, but there is another possibility: those loyal to the Burning Crusade here on Azeroth or even Outland can pick up the slack left by its defeat years ago. All it would take is a few in positions of power to corrupt those around them, and have the cycle continue downwards until even normal citizens are demon worshipers and servants," Yang sighed sorrowfully, "I think it is fair to say that such a thing is happening right now in Outland, with the Illidari having lost their way and with the actions of the false Sunstrider."

"I thought you seemed familiar," he winked at the sleeping Kael, "Don't worry though, this retiree happens to be quite forgetful and won't be able to tell anyone who may ask if you've been around."

"What's there to forget?" Lavitz playfully chimed in, feigning ignorance.

Yang imitated the false ignorance of Kael'thas Sunstrider being there with them, speaking through a yawn and stretch of his arms, "I don't know, can't think of anything. How about you?"

If no further interruptions that night had occurred, the man may have turned in for the night there, but instead he heard a knock at the door which he felt obligated to go check on. When he opened it three people walked in, all of them showing signs of having been through the elements and in particular the forest just trudged through by Trixie and her allies.

The first to walk in, a man in grey-green uniform that was quite dissimilar to anything worn by those encountered so far by Trixie on Azeroth, strode right past the innkeeper as he moved to survey the facility, "There are four of us, but our fourth fell behind due to a distraction they encountered-"

It took a moment for the man to then catch the appearance of the innkeeper, which paused the Human man in his tracks, recognition forming in his eyes as he stopped to turn to Yang.

"I did not know you were sent as well, Fleet Admiral."

This was confusing to the peaceful innkeeper, "Sent? By who? I retired after the last war..."

"Interesting..." the newcomer shook his head to dismiss his previous train of thought, "Forget what I have said, for I believe I have misspoken. I have gold to compensate you should you provide housing for my followers and I this night."

Trixie eyed over the three with both curiosity and suspicion, not being too familiar with the man but the two women behind him ringing a bell in her mind she could not exactly explain. One had light purple skin while the other had a yellow tone, and both of them seemed to be exhausted and ready to crash unlike the impassive man in front of them.

Yang closed the door and finished allowing them in, welcoming them into the main room where everyone else downstairs was seated, "You are more than welcome to do so. Fortunately our other guests are doubling up, so we still have plenty of room."

The door opening seemed to stir Kael, who slowly began to awake on top of Trixie's lap as she continued to eye this trio. The man was young, but he spoke in a voice that carrier with it a sense of experience that ran opposite his age. While young, he had a pronounced widow's peak to his auburn hair, and his cheekbones mixed with this gave the appearance of a stereotypical villain to be defeated by a young hero in a story. This put her in a state of unease, especially considering that her own group was being hunted by many others, and the fact that this man was a Human not a part of the Crusade given his looks but within the territory of the Undead and Crusade meant he likely was from elsewhere on some business.

Not about to be subtle about her misgivings, Trixie spoke directly to him as the man had his followers go off to bed upstairs and while smirking at Trixie, "So, Sir Widow Peak, I take it that you're following us too? Since you're a Human, I'm guessing Stormwind sent you?"

The man stood resolutely across the table from where Trixie sat, a seeming pride rising in him as he confirmed that he indeed had found the person he had set out to locate, "You would be incorrect on one count, Princess Lulamoon. I come on behalf of your family, particularly your mother, Queen Luna of Equestria, Asgard, and Jotunheim to locate and secure your person so that when it is possible we may return you to your proper place."

The revelation that he was not just some random pursuer but rather someone from her own homeland shook Trixie while confusing the others, something she quickly set about remedying by sending some of her own followers off.

She had to find out what this man knew, but she did not yet trust him enough to speak in complete isolation.

"Kael, Lavitz, you two stay. Everyone else leave us so we may speak in private."

Karl and Dirge begrudgingly listened and headed to go to bed as well, leaving Trixie with this servant of Princess Luna, the now awake Kael, Lavitz, and the innkeeper, his wife and adopted son having gone to bed as well already.

Trixie felt vulnerable not knowing just who she was speaking to or even much about herself, so she spoke in a guarded voice as she confronted him, "I don't remember you. Why wouldn't Luna send someone I know to find me?"

Still standing before Trixie and Kael, with Lavitz having stood up to be behind him, the Human adopted an apologetic voice that was more of a business inconvenience than personal sorrow, "I am afraid I am unable to divulge too much information about our mission, on behalf of those who asked for our aid, but the reasoning we are those who stand before you is a complex one. You see, I am a foreigner to your land, but after establishing a military dictatorship over one of your provinces I came into contact with Luna Faustdottir who, admiring my martial skills, appointed me as head of her Royal Guard and security."

"And so you went from conqueror to servant so easily?" Trixie inquired, still doubting his sincerity even though he was the only link to her home she presently held.

"No, but I am just a normal man with no inhuman capabilities. When confronted by a being whose magic makes that found where I am from pale in comparison, I had a choice between accepting their grace or being annihilated. I am a rational man, so I stand before you today."

One of the pieces of her recovered memory which she intended to impart on Kael when they were alone concerned worlds outside of her own, so Trixie had a guess as to where he might be from given that he too was a Human like those of Azeroth only with a difference in origin, "So if you are not from Equestria originally, are you from Earth?"

He shook his head no, "I doubt the name Eriadu would mean anything to you, but it is the planet I hail from. More importantly, I was taken from a place you know as Hel and placed in your land as a seeming game of the your Emperor's, or rather King as you may have known him at the time."

"Equestria didn't have a King, but..."

"He only holds the title of Prince in the land of Equestria, but his title in both Asgard and Jotunheim are King, much like Queen Luna's own lesser title in your homeland."

Trixie paused as she thought back...yes, that would make sense if...

"So they got married..."

Further explaining himself, the man continued onward as Trixie contemplated what she was told, "I have some experience in governing large quantities of sentient lifeforms, so my duties have expanded beyond those my title would imply," he bowed to show respect, "At the very least the Queen was gracious enough to grant me my former life's title of 'Grand Moff' as a mere formality."

Trixie shook herself out of her thoughts to look up at the man standing before her, who now had adopted a prideful look like he had earlier.

"As such I will introduce myself as I should: Grand Moff Tarkin, formerly of the Galactic Empire, now of the Lunar Empire."

"...what's a Grand Moth?"

Author's Note

Say hi to Tarkin. (Also known as Wilhuff...aka, 'Huffer') For those not very familiar with Star Wars, he's the guy who used the Death Star to blow up a planet to instill fear in his enemies. The very first Star Wars main villain, and a ruthless bastard who sees it as fine if he is evil if that's what it takes to bring order. And he's on the good team right now :rainbowlaugh: I have quite the sense of humor I think.

Hope you all enjoyed this very twist-y chapter, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! As always, they are appreciated, and I am interested in what theories you all may possess for the time being..."You may comment when ready."

Level 36.75: Shooing the Hypotenuse

A/N: Special thanks to Booster Spice, treegrowth, PrinceUniversa, NordicAeon, the other sans, GamerGoddessDin, Kriysix, Sidetrack, Housecarl of Clan Drops, Mister E, Echowing, Kitsuja, and Godzilladragon for all of your comments since last time! Things have been really busy in real life, but I managed to scrape this out in the moments of writing freedom I've gotten thanks to your support, so thank you all and I hope to continue hearing your thoughts as we continue on!

Also, sorry once more for a dialogue heavy chapter, what was originally going to be like 2 chapters was so long I had to split it into about four or five. This should be the last part of that first chapter, whereas the coming chapter will be business as usual with some dialogue here and there.

Hope you all enjoy, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! For the Emperor!

A cacophony of unfamiliar noises met Mograine's ears as he approached the practicing grounds of the base he and the others had fled to, though Mograine had come to at least expect their sound when he had been told he had to bring along him. Abbendis had ordered that Mograine not just bring those personally loyal to him, though she did so without directly addressing what had been his plan. Still, Mograine did not think much of this, for he was sure that he could defeat the fools who had come to the Monastery should he be granted any aid at all: he had fought them near evenly when by himself, and even without one of his arms he felt that the aid of an entire force of rookies and veterans both would be far more than enough to make up for the loss of an arm.

"Mograine. What has made you scurry this way?"

Stepping out into the training field, Mograine was surprised that the man he came to find had seemingly sensed his approach despite having his back turned. Wearing heavy armor that was colored opposite of the Crusade's normal gear by being mostly red with white being the trim, even the large Mograine was towered over by this man who carried a contraption Mograine felt crude and unfit for a true warrior: it was like the guns that were becoming more and more commonplace in this era as technology expanded, but unlike them it was capable of rapid fire at the cost of precision. Fed ammunition from a backpack via a belt that was fed into the weapon, Mograine had heard it said that it was a gift from Grand Crusader Dathrohan prior to a campaign across the Plaguelands to destroy villages and settlements that could feed the growing armies of the Scourge while saving what few could be actually moved in time.

It was a dark period of their history, and few spoke of it, but Mograine had been there and could not care less. Their cause was just, and if wiping people off the map would deprive their enemies of their tools of destruction than that was what the Crusade would do. Opposing them had been a force of Humans from Stormwind who managed to inflict severe damage on the Crusade forces carrying out the campaign, but they did so at the cost of their lives thanks to the might of Dathrohan and his soldiers. The survivors from it were some of the Crusade's most battle-hardened soldiers as a result of Stormwind's intervention, meaning that while Mograine found his comrade's attitude to be lacking, he would be valuable in terms of raw combat potential.

"Brother Avitus, our leader would have us bring to justice those who brought the Monastery to heel. Will you join me in taking vengeance for our fallen comrades?"

The larger soldier did not bother to turn back to face Mograine as he lifted his weapon, what would be labeled a gatling gun by some, and levied it at the targets in front of him even as they lay in ruins after the last clip of concentrated firepower that ripped through the targets and dummies and pelted the stone wall beyond them, damaging even it as well. Rather than small pellet like bullets as were used in pistols, the rounds fired by the weapon named unsubtly the "Neverending Hail of Devastation" by Dathrohan were larger and longer than a finger. Further enhancing their sheer destructive capabilities was the blessed nature of each bullet, having had the power of the Light imbued within them by their priests thanks to Avitus likely threatening them to grant him such a boon. This increased their damage against Undead targets who would be stung by the Light, in addition to just packing more of a normal punch.

"Which would they be, brother?" after one target dummy was reduced to absolutely nothing, Avitus glared back at Mograine as his voice dripped with scathing, sardonic wit, "The ones you foolishly led to their deaths, or those slain by the Undead when you were running for your life?"

With no instant response to give, Mograine fell silent as his mouth remained open as if to speak. How dare this man question his honor! Seemingly pleased by the response, Avitus turned back to his annihilation of the practice targets as he worked to hone his killing capabilities further. Mograine watched this with scorn as he stupidly thought of a retort, looking down on his comrade's method of combat just as his comrade looked down upon him.

To Mograine, to fire steel down upon one's foes rather than inflict it personally in the form of melee combat was a disgrace, as was wasting the power of the Light on such an affair, but he was not about to make his complaints known. Just as Mograine himself carried a reputation as a glory-seeker, the grey haired veteran before him carried quite the reputation for his temper. Mograine, if he had come to fight, would not have been too worried since it was not as if the slow and lumbering Crusader could keep pace with Mograine, for heavy armor, a heavy backpack made of metal, and a heavy weapon all left this other Crusader more of a walking weapon platform than a normal combatant. Mograine reckoned that if he could just get close he could best the man easily by just knocking him over, but that would be the trick: not being cut down by a hail of gunfire prior to reaching him.

Finally Mograine managed to come up with a response, though it was not particularly inspired or even as intelligent or manipulative as he would have hoped, "Your tongue is sharp as ever, but think of what we may obtain in defeating these upstarts."

He had approached Avitus during his response, thinking that the safest place to be right beside the ranged specialist, but he would be proven wrong as Avitus stopped holding his heavy weapon in two hands and used the now free one to push Mograine out of his way, the force of his shove being of a strength one would expect of a man his size with the end result being Mograine falling flat on his ass, "You are every bit as incompetent as I believed you to be, Mograine. In your state even I could defeat you in close combat, and I may just revel in the opportunity to beat you to death with your remaining arm."

Feeling that this was a way of turning down his offer to join them, as per Abbendis' suggestion, Mograine scoffed at what he felt to be cowardice, "Avitus, the 'Blood Raven'. Few of our number match your firepower, and none match your fury. I did not think a man of your nature would turn down such a challenge."

A wry grin found itself on the lips of the veteran now staring down at Mograine, "Oh, I will be coming with you, but do not think that it is because of your shallow quest for power or glory. I will see to it that those who have opposed us are brought to heel, as well as any others who get in my way."

Brushing himself off, Mograine felt his recruitment mission to be a success and decided to finish filling in his comrade on the situation, "Speaking of which, we will be aided by mere recruits who will only slow us down. Do you have any thoughts on how to handle them?"

"They will prove themselves or die, I do not particularly care which," the larger Crusader did not finish his humiliation of Mograine at just having knocked him over though, for once Mograine was standing up Avitus grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up into the air with a firm grip as the one armed man struggled to free himself, "But let us be clear, Mograine, I will not abide betrayal. Step out of line, sacrifice your allies for your narcissism, and I will slay you just as you once slew your own father."

"You..."

Having said his piece, Avitus casually dropped Mograine onto the ground, showing that while Mograine might be in charge of the operation, the veteran had no intention of seeing him as a superior. As Mograine in anger reached for a dagger, Avitus kicked it out of his hand, stomped on his fingers, and then strode away from the firing range all the while laughing caustically.

"Come, brother. We have a mission to fulfill, and while I may not be fleet of foot I am not going to spend a moment more than is necessary waiting to exact our vengeance. If you truly wish to replace the High General, and for that witch who follows you to replace Grand Inquisitor Isillien, you will do well to not fail in this quest. The Crusade has no place for the incompetent and feeble."

With Avitus gone, Mograine was left with his pride wounded and stewing in murderous rage. When he was alone he was approached by someone who had been hiding in the shadows, Whitemane, who began tending to both his damaged body and pride.

"Let him laugh now. We will be the ones who have the last."

Mograine nodded, looking forward for an opportunity now to slip a blade through his comrade's armor, "I had only thought to sacrifice the recruits, but perhaps our veterans need to be cleaned out when the time comes..."

"Grand Moff is a title designating one as overseer of significant territory in an empire, at least where I originate from. One could consider it a Governor of more land than all of you have likely ever seen put together. Where you come from however, I have been granted it as a simple formality, and my duties tend more towards aiding your mother in her rule."

Trixie could see that her question about what a "Grand Moth" was caused some exasperation in their new guest, but he kept a polite face all the same. Seeing as how he appeared to be indulging her and her questions, Trixie decided to press on.

"By my mother, do you mean Lulamoon?"

"No, not your birth mother, rather the one who formally adopted you after your tenure as her student: Princess Luna, as you would know her."

Kael looked over to Trixie and found what he expected: Trixie was grappling with what she was being told by this man in such a knowing manner. Tarkin did not appear to be lying to them, so what he was saying ought to be true...and if Trixie was related to some kind of royalty, didn't that mean that she too was royalty just as he was?

Still struggling with this, Trixie bit her lip and continued to ask about what she was now assuming was the case, "So I'm a Princess?"

Tarkin nodded from the seat he had taken, "In a manner of speaking, yes. You do not hold inheritance rights like her natural born children do, but you possess the same prestige as if you were a daughter of Luna yourself."

In a complete reversal of her uncertainty a moment before, Trixie's eyes lit up as she thought of something from her past that she had since recalled in the Scarlet Monastery.

"Hah, in your face Twilight!" Trixie exclaimed while pumping both arms up in the air, a big grin on her face.

Kael didn't remember if Trixie had brought up someone named Twilight before, so he too inquired about something, "Who is Twilight?"

Trixie's arms moved from above her head to being crossed over her chest, her momentary glee replaced by pouting indignation, "A stupid, judgmental meanie head who thinks she is better than Trixie."

"Is she better than you?"

"That's besides the point!"

Tarkin clearing his throat returned Trixie back to the conversation at hand rather than her own little tangent, with Trixie then clearing her own throat for a moment to try and save face.

"So, Mister Moth, you plan on taking me home, don't you?"

Her voice was a mixture of nervous and excited, excited at the prospect that she could go to her own home where she likely had a loving family waiting for her, but nervous because she was kind of wrapped up in the various plots and conspiracies surrounding her dear friend Kael and the world she woke up in. To go home would be to abandon the adventures here, and she had to admit she was having fun even if they were living their lives on the edge each day.

The response played out like music to Trixie's ears to Tarkin's surprise, though he hid it well as he explained the situation further, "Yes, but I am afraid that we will likely have to wait some time before that can occur. You see, there seems to be quite the time distortion between this place and your home, one that runs counter to how most would understand time to be. From my investigation, you have had a presence here of a few weeks, correct?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Trixie nodded, having lost track of the specific days she had been here along the way. Maybe two weeks? Probably less she thought...

"In your home world, you have been gone for years. Those that were infants and children when you left are adults, and much has happened since you disappeared."

The idea that she had essentially lost a couple decades in her own world brought a sick feeling to Trixie's stomach, but at the very least she had some comfort in knowing that to Luna a couple decades meant little in terms of her lifespan. She wanted to go home to her so badly...but something in the back of her brain was also yelling at her not to, as if there was a reason she was here and not home with Luna and the others in Equestria.

This brought to mind another query, one which Trixie asked with some hesitation, "Do you know why I ended up here?"

Sensing Trixie's apprehension, Kael took her hand in his own to comfort her. She readily accepted this physical gesture and even moved a bit closer to him as he sat beside her, not showing any discomfort at them having their bodies right up against one another.

A half-second of thought revealed that what was about to be said was a carefully constructed response from Tarkin, who dodged answering her completely, "Strictly speaking, no, I do not, but your history is not for me to speak of for I was not yet a part of your family's empire when that occurred. My companions Adagio and Aria appear to know you from then, though they are former criminals you defeated for Luna and so they hold a petty grudge at present. Their lives and freedom hinge on the success of this mission, so they are obedient to some degree, but I would suggest that you avoid them when it is possible."

Trixie made a mental note to do as this man said and avoid the other two women if at all possible, but she doubted that if this group was going to tag along that she would be able to forever. She still felt a certain offputting coldness from the man, but his knowledge of her world gave Trixie an intrinsic trust of him since for once she was dealing with someone who was of her own kind...sort of.

Something else was nagging at the back of Trixie's mind, and that was her ever present need to feel validated and loved due to a crushing lack of self-esteem, "How is Princess Luna? Does she miss me?"

Tarkin's response was perhaps a bit blunt, but it did answer her query this time, "You are presumed dead by many thanks to the time that has passed, and without contrary evidence she is among them. This expedition seeks to rectify your being missing."

Seeking to clarify the time-table they were working on and also feeling a pang in her heart at the thought of making her beloved mentor think she was dead all these years, Trixie brought up the issue of leaving again, "So when can I go home? I don't want her feeling bad because of me..."

"My contact has told me that the odd time difference between this realm and your own makes it difficult to say, but that based on their studies and approximations that three years will go by here in what would seem to be a blink of an eye there. First this realm lagged, now it is racing ahead. By the time the gateway between worlds is established again those three years, if not more, will have passed. Until then it is my duty to assure your safety, and if need be that of this world should it prove to endanger you in some way."

Looking aside, Tarkin caught a glimpse of a picture frame with the innkeeper's family on it which made the auburn haired man smile in seeming recognition. This was not lost upon Trixie, who gave him a questioning look. As a subordinate now to her, Tarkin offered up what was on his mind.

"The innkeeper here is familiar to me. You see, there is a connection between different world, dimensions, realities and what have you, and that is through Hel. We all end up in the same landscape, unless one is fortunate enough to be among the privileged few to end up in Valhalla."

Trixie remembered her experience in what she thought very clearly was Hel, and she bit her lip as she remembered that she still meant to unburden those memories upon Kael, for the more she thought of them, the worse she felt and he was always there to comfort her.

Tearing herself from these thoughts, Trixie instead focused on the revelation Tarkin brought up and the seeming contradiction that the innkeeper posed.

"So how do you know him if he's alive?"

"The realm known as Hel is also timeless in a regard, but more to your point the ruler of Hel is a woman by the name of Hela. As the daughter of Loki Odinson, Hela is your sister by marriage and has proven most useful to our Empress by providing to her talents from the underworld she reigns over...such as myself among others."

That cleared things up just a bit, so Trixie nodded as she thought she understood, "So you know him through this?"

"He serves as the tactical leader of the army your mother is amassing at present, with a council of other once deceased beings aiding him and I in our duties. In the world he hails from he was murdered by religious fanatics attempting to change the tides of history right before he could make peace with an opposing army, having fought the far larger army to a standstill with raw genius and cunning without ever once having lost a battle," Tarkin spoke with respect, something Trixie felt he did not give out very often if almost ever.

"But he's just a history nerd, how can he be what you're saying he is?" Trixie jested, "Maybe we should ask for his help if he's here in some form..."

Tarkin shook his head no, his natural pragmatism set aside this once, "He should not exist in the world of Azeroth, which makes me think that there is a hidden truth to this land you have been inhabiting, one we should unravel. For the time being, we should allow the retired soldier to live the life of peace he sought in life."

This did a good deal to undo Trixie's original misgivings of the scary, villainous looking man. It appeared that he truly respected his colleague, even if they were meeting under different circumstances here and now.

Standing up, Tarkin nodded towards the staircase leading to the bedrooms of the inn, "Now, I understand if this is all a lot to you, so I will give you time to digest what I have said. There is quite some time before we will be returning to your homeland, and it is our duty at present to protect you until that time comes. We will make arrangements concerning this in the morning."

Trixie had so much more she wanted to ask, but her brain was exhausted by then and she was feeling her eyes begin to droop. It was time for sleep, and she could always ask him another time, so she agreed and let him go. As the Human put his first foot on the staircase someone else spoke up though, this being someone who just pushed open the inn's door and was glaring across the room at their associate, "Tarkin, would it kill you to wait for once?"

Looking back only briefly, Tarkin continued his way upstairs while speaking in a dismissive voice, "Perhaps it would, but that point is moot at this moment. Jaina Proudmoore, introduce yourself to your former ally and the princess in his company. I will be resting effective immediately, for not all of us take things at a leisurely pace."

Though it had been a lifetime ago, when Kael looked across the room at the newest person he felt his body freeze in recognition of her.

'Jaina Proudmoore...' his mind whispered to him, not bothering to explain why he felt a sudden connection to this woman he ought to have been seeing for the first time but that he felt he knew.

Jaina was suffering from a similar feeling of seeing someone for the first time in ages, staring right into Kael's glowing green eyes and finding that even though she had been searching for him, she had no idea what truly to say, "Kael..."

In response, Kael spoke her name as well, also at a loss for words, "Jaina..."

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on one's perspective, the reunion was interrupted by a bright purple flash from next to Kael that preceded Trixie appearing only a few feet in front of Jaina, exiting her teleport at just enough of a distance to mockingly introduce herself.

"Trixie. Nice to meet you."

Jaina's face formed part of a snarl as she recognized Trixie as the Elf who flippantly walked away when Jaina was trying to get Kael's attention. Now the same Elf was taking a less than friendly tone with her, and so Jaina began to take it personally, "I saw you in Stormwind. Why did you ignore me when I was calling out for Kael?"

To Jaina's surprise Trixie jabbed the shorter woman in the collarbone with a finger, purple eyes narrowing harshly at the other Mage, "Because I heard about you, Jaina Proudmoore. A poor little Human who wants peace and love and happiness and all of that, but who fell in love with a Human tyrant who went on to bring his race to near destruction after murdering his own father and mentor. A man who ushered in a reign of terror with hordes of Undead and caused the deaths of untold innocents," Trixie was trying to hold back her anger and was failing miserably as more and more resentment crept into her voice with each word, "Meanwhile, she was breaking the heart of a poor man who was actually a good person. Someone who would go on to suffer at the hands of her beloved when said Human razed their homeland to the ground and slaughtered their people."

Looking past Trixie for aid from Kael, Jaina found that he was wordless, completely at a loss of what to say between the normally goofy Trixie getting protective over him against someone who appeared to be an old love of his. What could he possibly say in such a situation, the woman he loved being scolded by the woman he loves yet was not in a relationship with?

Trixie carried on as she continued to stand in-between Jaina and the Prince she was feeling very possessive over, "Kael is my best friend, and I am not going to let some foolish woman come walking back into his life and hurt him again."

"Trixie..."

Kael tried to say something to calm her down, but his words died in his throat when Jaina shook her head and moved past Trixie and towards the staircase.

"It's been a long day. I'm just glad that I've confirmed what I wanted to know," glancing over at her old friend, Jaina shot him a sad look, "Kael, we need to talk tomorrow. Alone."

Once she left, Trixie sat down at a nearby table where Lavitz was seated, him having watched the entire affair in silence. It wasn't his place to intervene, and the advice on his mind was not the sort one would share in front of a group, but rather what you would tell a friend one on one. After venting a moment, Trixie closed her eyes and teleported back to her other seat, only now instead of just being beside him she was actively leaning against him.

"Trixie, I..."

Her eyes and voice as if they were about to cry, Trixie wrapped her arms around her partner who she suddenly feared would think she stepped over the line concerning personal relationships, "Please don't be mad."

His arms wrapping around her body gave some indication of his thoughts before Kael managed to finally speak, his head curling up into her neck as he embraced the Elf beside him.

"I'm not mad Trixie. You were worried about me and wanted to protect me. How could I fault you over that?"

Looking up at him after that, Trixie realized something: she was blushing, and a part of her really, really wanted to close what little distance there was between them to kiss him. Shocked at this, Trixie looked down away from him as her cheeks remained flushed red. She dismissed the thoughts as being heretical, for they were just friends and partners, nothing more...

But that was the first time in her life she could recall ever truly wanting to press her lips up against someone else's. Be it out of jealousy, love, or whatever other emotion was coursing through her, Trixie felt as if she had committed a crime by thinking of him like that even in a fleeting moment.

Since Trixie was visibly exhausted and was having trouble sitting up, Kael helped her stand up and began to usher her towards their room, "Come on, let's go to bed. We've been up for quite awhile, and we both need it I think."

The feeling of suddenly being challenged by Jaina's entrance faded as Trixie realized that whatever had happened in the past between Kael and Jaina, the sweet and kind prince was her partner now...and, if she were honest in her selfishness, she wanted that to always be the case.

"A letter from the Grand Crusader...interesting..."

"Brothers, they march on the Scourge in Scholomance. Pick up your arms, we leave at once!"

Author's Note

As this chapter outright states, there is quite a big cause behind why all these crossovers are happening...well, more than one cause since there is a different reason why say Trixie's there than why certain others are. Why? How? Well these are questions still to be answered, but I laid out quite a lot this chapter so that's all for now.

Also, since all the Crusaders I'll be featuring in the near future are Paladins except for Whitemane, I thought it would be good to add a representative of their ranged combatants...but I killed their notable Hunter from the Monastery, so we have Avitus. Another reference :raritywink: , but a quite apt one given that he is a part of a religious cult of sorts whose main color is red among other reasons such as serving as a distinct counterpart to Mograine.

Avitus doesn't really have much of a sense of humor (oddly fitting picture).

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you're up for a wild ride as we move into our next dungeon! Please leave your thoughts in the comments below, as they do truly help me in creating more content for you all!

Level 37: Pulling You Down With Me

A/N: Special thanks to the other sans, Booster Spice, _Checkmate_, Gulver, and Sidetrack for your comments last chapter! It was kind of lonely admittedly, half the reason it's taken me a bit to finish this massive chapter...I was close, but not too motivated. The other part is that it was massive, and possibly one of the most important ones yet.

Chapter title is a reference to the song "Until the World Goes Cold" by Trivium, one of my favorite bands I was fortunate enough to find just under a year ago.

Oh, and by the way, this chapter is probably one of the most important of the entire story, so I do hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Trixie's eyes fluttered slowly as she came to, her consciousness slowly ebbing in and out as she felt her body moving. This movement came to a stop however as whatever was holding her let go, and she plopped down into what she would soon realize was a caked mixture of blood, dirt, and bone. The dirt was wet with blood and water both however, causing her to sink down into it as Trixie finished waking from her sleep.

In a sudden panic at not knowing where she was or how she got there, Trixie tried to pick herself up off the ground only to have her hand sink down into the mud and for her face to slam down into a pool of someone else's blood. The place she was in was definitely outdoors, but the darkness of it made Trixie feel as if she was under the thrall of Nightmare Moon's eternal night.

As she continued to stumble and raise herself, Trixie tried calling out for help, “Kael?”

Once she was on her knees, Trixie could see that she was in some kind of swamp-like terrain...she could smell seaweed and could hear now the slow tides of the waters crashing against the shores of this place. She could see some giant man walking away from her, his body covered in seaweed she guessed came from this very place as well as primitive armor, while in his hand he fiddled with a stone small to him but sizable to Trixie.

Squinting her eyes, Trixie could see that it was a Hearthstone: not the cardgame she had learned, but the method of teleportation back to a certain location. The large brute had, she surmised, grabbed her from her bed and teleported back here, wherever "here" was. Mist was beginning to shroud her vision as her captor continued to leave her, forcing Trixie to give up on observing him.

Despite her deduction meaning she was likely isolated, Trixie still hoped that she was not alone in this dark, damp place, for it gave her no sense of safety and the fact that this being possessed enough power to sneak into the Inn and snatch her frightened Trixie. Why did he take her? Why did he bring her to this of all places, other than obviously it was where he resided?

“Lavitz?" no response still brought Trixie to shiver both from fear and the cold of this new place, "V-vanessa?”

Once before she had been dragged into a realm of darkness, mud, dirt, blood, and mist, and Trixie never wished to relive that experience.

"This isn't Hel, Trixie...you know that. It can't be," Trixie tried to convince herself, failing completely as she heard screams from an area nearby. The swamp was not on completely even ground and so the sources of the screams were beyond her vision due to a triad of fog, darkness, and a hill of sand, but Trixie was not about to go and see why someone let out that bloodchurdling noise...

"Prince Loki?" the father of the warden of Hel was a good person Trixie thought to call out for, since her last trip to Hel had been with him. And it wouldn't hurt to have the man who spawned the disturbed, evil goddess who took a broken Trixie after her encounter with the Ursas and tormented her relentlessly while wearing the face of Princess Luna.

Trixie had only overcome the Ursas with training and magic she had learned from the Prince of the foreign land, but in the end she had been rendered comatose. She had been trapped inside her mind with no ability to escape the mental torment inflicted upon her by the witch she knew as Hela. It had felt like years before she had woken up into a bleak place much like this one, with only Loki and...

Trixie blinked as she came to the full realization that, by the descriptions she had received of a certain Night Elf, she had met Illidan before coming to Azeroth. She was not stunned by the revelation due to the fact that she was already aware of the connection Hel had between worlds, for she had first met Kael there...oh yes, she remembered the mana starved Crack Elf who grabbed her by the throat and forcibly drained her of nearly her entire magic and life energy.

Her memories faded from shortly after that, but she was aware that she had fixed him somehow...or else he would not be the handsome Prince who she traveled with and who would give his life for her. Perhaps, she realized, that his dedication to her now was a result of the fact that before their memory loss he owed his renewed life to her...

There were many others in Hel she knew did not belong to Equestria, be it shattered souls of Humanoids or the chimera of similar beings whose bodies had been marred and their souls damaged to the point that when they tried to pull themselves back together they became a shapeshifting abomination.

Thanks to the bond Loki had with Luna born of having suffered similar fates, Loki protected Trixie throughout it all. Without him, or the quiet yet thoughtful Illidan Trixie was sure she would have spent the rest of her existence in that place some called Niflheim while others called Hel, others Hell, the Underverse, Vellweb...it held different meaning to everyone who came to it, but they all shared something in common: they were damaged, flawed, or otherwise bad people who were unfit of the realm of the "worthy", Valhalla.

Trixie felt her heart sink as she came to think that she wouldn't ever be able to truly live in a place like that...that her lot in life was always to suffer, to be punished for her flaws, and whenever she thought she was coming out from under the stress and pain the carpet would be yanked under from her and she would come to a world of misery like this. What else could she expect? A world made for her after her death, when she had done so many selfish things in her life?

Her ears twitched and she jerked around to find that a behemoth stood before her, having somehow approached her near silently and only revealing himself at the last moment. Trixie's mud-covered arm was grabbed by this sickly-green-blue skinned man who wore a kind of leather armor that left most of his skin bare, other bits covered by animal fur that had not been carefully removed and crafted but rather torn.

"Ahhh!" Trixie yelped as she was lifted up into the air, her mind quickly thumbing through all the things she could and should do.

"Welcome to our humble abode. Let me show you how things are done here in Helheim!" he bellowed, reaching his other hand out to grab Trixie as well. Only, when it was to squeeze her, she was no longer in his hand.

Thanks to teleportation, Trixie had thrown herself over into a pile of washed up seaweed. As she left the man behind, he was assaulted by another being just like him with a sword that carved his face off.

"Hel-Helheim?" Trixie whispered to herself, cowering beneath the mass of seaweed she was using to hide. The wet and slimy material clung to her body and she felt like shuddering at its touch, but she did her best to remain still as a brawl broke out among various members of this green-skinned Humanoid race that was like a scaled up version of Humans albeit with such brute strength and speed that Trixie couldn't really keep up with their movements.

Before Trixie had only been scared of how much this place reminded her of Hel, but to think that she was actually back? Trixie felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she feared meeting Hela again...the mistress of Hel was a fickle lady who would come and go as she pleased, tormenting the souls under her control as if it was a sport. Something had happened to drive her insane, and Trixie learned that she at least blamed Loki and Trixie for it, but the reason as to why evaded her since the woman didn't speak.

The brawl of the behemoths was ended decisively when a lithe body weaved in and out of the crowd with a pair of blades Trixie recognized as the Twin Blades of Azzinoth, the warglaive used by Illidan...and by Loki when Loki obtained them from his Hel-bound friend.

This owner who was not Loki was more like the former wielder, possessing a body Trixie determined was a Night Elf's from his purple coloration and tall stature that mixed with his lean muscles made him appear menacing as he stood with his back turned to the crowd that took just a moment to realize they had all been disemboweled before promptly falling over, their souls drifting out of the corpses that now lay there. From what Trixie had experienced before they would eventually take a corporeal form again given time, but for now they were defeated.

The Night Elf who did not possess demonic wings like Illidan was staring right over at Trixie, who began to look at him more. His body was wracked with wounds, as if he had been fighting through many such giants to get to this point, but his body relaxed as continued to focus on Trixie without moving. Seeing as he was not going to take the first move, could probably kill her in an instant if he pleased, and she had little to lose at this point, Trixie rose from the seaweed to wave at and greet him, "Hi there, you look like someone I knew. You're not evil, right?"

One of the brawlers tried to reach out and grab the Night Elf by the leg, only to have said arm severed along with his neck by the Night Elf slamming his glaive down into the man's body, his purple face passive even as blood ran down his body, "I am not one of these cretins, no."

He wasn't very talkative Trixie realized, but he did awfully look familiar...she couldn't place why, but she couldn't shake a feeling of being unnerved as he looked at her with his glowing eyes, "My name's Trixie. It's nice to meet you."

A series of roars made Trixie jump and twist to see that a giant...hydra...dog thing was rushing across the water to come and greet them. And likely eat them too, given that the monster was as large as multiple Ursas put together, its three canine heads resting atop three long necks that emerged from the tides of the dark realm. The howls it let out staggered Trixie, their force enough to stun her from their sheer ferocity as it charged forth to meet its prey.

It was official, Hel sucked.

Fortunately for Trixie, the Night Elf placed himself in the way of her and prepared to fight the giant monster while motioning for Trixie to leave with haste, "I do not have time to speak. Continue onward from here towards the docks. That beast Guarm will make mincemeat out of you, but I can stall it."

"But..."

Trixie felt herself shoved forcefully in a direction down the beach, forcefully turned around by the power of whoever this man was. She turned her head back to him as he prepared to leap forward at this 'Guarm' like he had those other men, only to look back forward and begin running as she decided he knew more than her and should listen to him.

"Go! We did not come here so that you can actually find yourself among the dead!"

Trixie did as told without a second thought, in fact using teleportation to put even more space in-between herself and the clash between Night Elf and hydra-dog-thing. The Night Elf was too fast for Trixie to actually keep track of as he tore into it with the blades of Azzinoth, though the beast seemed to be tough enough to not actually care about what was striking it. Trusting that the man could handle himself, Trixie ran along the shore in the dark swamp-shore she found herself in.

Pausing once she caught site of a wooden dock, Trixie had a thought cross her mind. If this was Hel as she now seemed to have confirmed, then it was possible that the Night Elf had been some associate of Princess Luna and her empire. After all, it seemed that Princess Luna was looking for her, and if these foolish swamp creatures had dragged her down in her sleep...

No, not in her sleep. Trixie thought through her last memories before coming here and actually recalled going outside to relieve herself a few hours after falling asleep, only to hear a crackle in the nearby forest and then nothing.

In any case, if these creatures had in fact dragged her to Hel, they had done half the job of bringing her home. A world of souls from all universes and realities also served as a bridge between them, and she had escaped it once before to return home...she could do so again, should she prove fortunate enough.

"I wonder if he knows Tarkin and those girls..."

But did she want to go home? She had a life with those in Azeroth, she was helping Kael liberate their...his species from his maddened self. A part of Trixie felt reassured in the defeat of that tyrant given that she found him in Hel, so he would die...it was just a matter of when, how, and at what cost.

She wanted to be there to help him win...in fact, as much as she longed to return to her home and be with her family, she felt a stronger urge to return to Azeroth. In both places others had taken her in, and in both places she had made a life and name for herself through her struggles...

Trixie sighed as she realized she really needed to get her past off her chest the next time she had the chance with Kael. He would listen, like he always did...as she continued across the beach at a slow pace, she felt herself bringing her hand up to her neck where she had been introduced to Kael in a forceful manner. He stole her energy...which Trixie realized then that he had been doing for quite some time, feeding off her like a leech due to his magic addiction and the well of energy she had inside of her that she had not yet found the source of. Whatever it was, it had been depleted when she first woke up in Azeroth, but now it was always simmering beneath her surface, ready to explode out when it was necessary and all the while feeding their magic addictions without causing them the pain other Blood Elves might suffer.

"You! Mistress Helya wants a word with you!"

Trixie craned her neck up to see that atop the docks that branched off the shore was a group of the same giants from before, covered with their animal hides and seaweed. They had been working on building a boat with the materials available to them when one of them heard Trixie come closer, only to recognize her and raise his voice to alert everyone there of her presence.

Despite it dawning on Trixie that while this was safer than the giant monster fight going on a little ways back, she found herself trying to correct the builder, "I believe it's pronounced 'Hela'."

The six giants working on the boat leapt down from the raised dock to land in the water and sand around it, their fierce eyes all trained on Trixie as they drew various weapons that ranged from their carving tools all the way to actual combat blades. Trixie stepped back and tried to come up with a plan as they lumbered towards her, none of them apparently concerned with her as a threat.

This laxness would cost them when two of them were cut down not by Trixie herself, but by something no-one in any dimension or reality had been counting on: a rip in the tear of the very fabric of the world. The tear came from a bright slash of an ethereal sword formed of energy, cleaving them in half as the owner of said energy sword stumbled forward through the tear he just made in reality.

The four remaining giants looked to this accidental interloper who dared stumble into Hel of his own doing with scorn, and they turned their blades on him as the bright one in his hands sizzled out. The tall, yet teenage, boy in a blue school uniform called forth another blade to defend himself, this one glowing a bright orange as he parried the attack of one monster and angled his sword to impale another.

"Spirit Sword!"

Trixie saw this as an opportunity to do something herself, and while she doubted she could even harm these behemoths with the power she was sensing from them, she could at least apply kinetic force to them. Mixing a teleportation with a roundhouse kick, Trixie caught one of the giants in the neck and knocked him back a few feet. He was not harmed whatsoever, but the force and momentum behind her attack still could push him it seemed...while also hurting her foot. Trixie cursed as she landed on the ground, only having a second to recover before having to throw herself away from the giants who suddenly saw their original target again.

By then the battle was over however, with this Human interloper having cut down all their enemies in short order...with his red pompadour, eight times worse than the similar odd hairstyle Jerid had, not even getting in his way.

Done fighting, the man turned around to see Trixie, who he did not regard as any sort of threat just like the giants before him...though unlike them, it was because this Human was a sucker for pretty women and so he didn't think she could possibly be an enemy.

That did not mean however that he was not confused about why she was there, "Uh, who the heck are you lady?"

"I was going to ask you the same question!" Trixie scoffed, pointing to the rift he had opened, only for it to close just as she did so. After a moment's contemplation, Trixie muttered under her breath, "You sound like a gay Vegeta."

The Human didn't hear her as he cheerfully introduced himself, striking a 'manly' pose as he did so, "Kazuma Kuwabara, at your service!"

"Vegeta-Armstrong..." Trixie sighed before shaking her head and gave an introduction of her own that was as stylish and grandiose as his was an attempt to be tough, "I'm Trixie Lulamoon. Mind if I ask how you managed to cut your way through...well, reality like that?"

Kuwabara shrugged, obviously not in the loop just like Trixie, "I dunno, I got this new power that can cut up dimensions and stuff, but I don't really know how to use it. I was trying to get into a place called Hel as a favor to my sister, but I think I got the wrong place. Hel's supposed to be all fire and stuff, but this is...icky."

Trixie sighed, understanding his thoughts but also knowing from experience that Hel was not just fire and brimstone...no, it had places like this as well, and in fact this was the kind she had the most experience with after her run-in with the Ursas, "This place is named Hel. Just ask the locals."

"Oh, really? Thanks!" he turned around and began to look for some more giants to speak to, apparently believing the group he just killed to be the only bad ones. He did not note Trixie's sarcasm as he found some more giants and began yelling to them at a distance, "Hey guys, can you tell me where to find a jackass named Sakyo? He's about this tall, black punk hair in a dumb mullet, thinks letting himself die is cool and all."

One pointless fight later, Kuwabara was wiping wet sand off his uniform as he scowled at the dead bodies of the giants around him.

"Well that just wasn't nice!"

Trixie could not even believe how stupid this man was and so she stared blankly at him, "Did you really think people who live in Hel would just help you out?"

"I mean you seem like a pretty nice lady, so why not?"

His assumption that this was her place of residence irked Trixie, who gripped a fist at him, "I don't live here, I'm here by mistake just like you," thinking about his entrance, Trixie realized something that could save them both, "Hey, would you be able to get us out of here by any chance? You cut through the barrier between wherever you come from and here after all, so..."

"Yeah, but I gotta admit I don't know where we'd end up. Still mastering my new power and all, Miss Lulamoon. And besides, it's got a cooldown I think," Kuwabara's dopey expression switched in an instant to a serious one as he considered going home, "Believe me, the moment I can go home to my lovely Yukina I'm out of here."

Well, if the idiot was going to be stuck here for a little bit, why not make him a useful idiot? "Well I really shouldn't be here and am trying to leave before these beasts get me. Would you mind helping me until then?"

This seemed to appeal to Kuwabara's sense of chivalry, as he instantly agreed to her request without any hesitation about how this may impact his own health, "Sure thing! I wouldn't be much of a man if I didn't help a lady in need!"

Now with a bodyguard in tow, Trixie studied her surroundings as best as she could so as to decide what to do next. The fog was not as thick here, so she could see various yet vague objects in the distance. Some were small hills of sand, others seemed to be trees with lanterns hanging off them with dim lights, while one area seemed to be a sizable hill or maybe cliff from what Trixie could see. It was overlooking the main body of water, and was relatively nearby, so it seemed like a good place to go to next.

"I was told to go to the docks by someone I trust, but not what to do when I got there..." thinking further, perhaps there was a boat to escape, but a moment's observation revealed that no boats were docked at present and the only one around was the one still under construction, "There isn't a boat for me to take, so how about we go past the docks to see what's over on that cliff? It might give us a good view over the area."

There was an eerie quiet in the immediate area as the two made their way to their new destination, for while demented cries and waves crashed in the background those became white noise soon enough. For some reason there did not appear to be as many giants in this area, though Trixie was not sure why...perhaps the giant pit of bones and remains they passed was where that hydra-dog thing Guarm lived? That would explain perhaps why people didn't come here...and raised an issue in case Guarm decided to come back.

In any case, a staircase led the way up the relatively small cliff, one which Trixie took point on and rushed up to see what was at the top in an eager hope that standing atop this high ground would give her a view of where they could go next. Every second they stayed was another that one of those giants Trixie could not fight herself could find them, and she still did not know why they had even brought her there.

Kuwabara pushed Trixie back and stood before her defensively, "Stand back, I'll deal with them!"

Trixie was not in a place to argue, since a giant octopus monster was not on her list of things she wanted to fight, particularly when she already knew she was outclassed. This Human from what she presumed was Earth was capable of just carving through them with his blade, as if he was used to killing otherworldly beings, so she had some faith that he would be able to dispatch these tentacles like he dealt with the previous threat.

This belief would hastily proven wrong.

"Spirit," Kuwabara summoned his shining blade as he lunged forth, finishing his battlecry as he cut into one of the tentacles...and proceeded to summon another rift in front of himself, "Swor-oh-oh-oh-craaaaaaaaaaaap!"

Trixie's eye twitched as Kuwabara accidentally used the wrong sword, carving through reality again and stumbling through it in a clear display that he was still learning how his own powers worked. Kuwabara disappeared into this second rift in his foolishness, leaving Trixie behind to gawk as she tried to fathom what she just witnessed.

While debating whether or not she should throw herself into the rapidly closing gash between worlds, Trixie had her options limited by a tentacle wrapping around it all without touching it. Trixie looked to where it originated from and saw that from the waters had emerged a being more massive than she had ever witnessed: a woman with the lower body of an octopus or squid, dark tentacles forming at the end of a torso covered by what seemed to be a ship's wreckage and nets twisted into loose clothing. Their skin was a pale aqua, but it darkened to the color of the tentacles on her forearms, and her fin-like ears held a similar discolored bent to them. Like many other beings of Azeroth, this entity had eyes that glowed with magical power, though hers were white-blue and the shine was duller than with others. Her face was in some ways attractive, but in other ways hideous with her facial features clashing with her mouth's sharp teeth that looked more fitting on a horror story monster than an actual being.

Trixie twitched as she watched this...thing loom over her, its disgusting yet beautiful face appearing almost pensive as it looked down more at the now closed rift it was releasing its tentacle from.

"The interloper that Witch tried distracting me with removed himself," the monster smirked to itself, "That just leaves the three others, but I have already dealt with two of those fools..."

Trixie bit her lip as she looked up at this creature, not sure how to react...it wasn't attacking her yet, it sounded like it was somehow in control of things, and yet she could feel contempt and ill intent oozing from it.

“W-who are you?”

In a flash Trixie saw the closest tentacle hurl itself at her, only to stop right before her face in an act of intimidation. This intimidation worked, as Trixie stumbled back while the beast scowled down at her, “You had best kneel before me, mortal, for I am the ruler of all Helheim, Helya. I will not suffer sleights from any within my realm. All here have their souls bound to me, and do as I say!”

“My apologies...Mistress Hel...Helya?” Trixie gulped as she recognized the names...almost. Instead of Hela it was Helya, and while she was used to referring to it as the shortened name Hel the full name was Helheim, though some also called the realm she knew as Niflheim, “Helheim…”

"You are familiar with our names I presume thanks to the Witch's...connection to me. This is a native piece of the overarching realm you know as Hel, with the souls who come here being some of those from Azeroth. That a Human from another place's Hel came here is one more thing I will have to punish that woman for..." Helya spoke with some disgust, leaving her wet and pungent tentacle right in front of Trixie's face to continue threatening her.

Accepting that she was speaking to a goddess at this point, Trixie shut her mouth and waited to be told what it was this being wanted. She was used to physical goddesses like Celestia and Luna, but she had come to learn that there were even more powerful beings out there with her time with Luna. Since she was nowhere near powerful enough to defy such a being, shutting her mouth and doing as told was the only way she could hope to come out of this alive...no, not alive. With her soul intact, for this was the afterlife, even if she still drew breath. To die here was to have one's soul shattered, and there was no guarantee it would ever reforge itself.

“Now, I have summoned you for a reason. You have a purpose in my schemes, one which goes beyond just what I am asking of you...one action will carry so much more weight you see that a mortal such as yourself could imagine. Do this one task for me and I shall return your soul to you. But until you fulfill it, your soul belongs to me…and to fail me would mean to spend the rest of your existence in this place, left to my very whims,” Helya flashed Trixie a tooth filled smile that, in addition to the coldness of this place, sent shivers down Trixie's spine, “Upon completion, I will personally return you to your world…I will bring you home to the land you know as Equestria, to the teacher you know as Princess Luna, and there you will be able to live once more as if you never had left.”

She...she was going to reward her? It sounded too good to be true...but it was not as if Trixie could bargain to begin with, so why not accept the possibly false hope that this could turn out well for her?

Kneeling down, Trixie tried to appear the part of loyal servant to this surprisingly gracious goddess of the underworld, “Then what do you wish of me, mighty Helya?”

“There is a debt that must be paid. My domain does not apply to all mortals of Azeroth, but rather a select few,” Helya used her tentacle to tap Trixie's sternum softly, displaying surprising dexterity with the giant limb that was many times larger than Trixie just as its owner was the size of many buildings put together, “However, I seek to expand my power so that one day all dead are mine. And if I am to one day rule over the dead, I cannot let certain…anomalies persist.”

A grin befitting of a devil found its way onto Helya's face, and it was in that moment that Trixie's hope that perhaps this was going to work out for the best shattered.

“When I return you to your bed, you will kill Kael’thas Sunstrider. Not the one in Outland, who is the true Kael’thas driven mad inexplicably by magic he once tamed, but the one you travel with who had been stolen from the underworld by another.”

Trixie stopped kneeling and stood up wordlessly. Once on her feet again, she stared down at the ground beneath her as her fists gripped tightly.

“And if I refuse?”

“Then you will remain here for the rest of time, my subject for everlasting torment and pain,” “That is, if your soul itself does not shatter and dissipate like so many others have. Unlike the thief who stole Kael, I do not bother piecing together broken souls of those unworthy enough to have fallen.”

“Going home sounds enticing…” Trixie looked up at Helya with narrowed eyes, “But I am not quite sure I would even want to, even if I was so cowardly as to trade my partner’s life for my own selfish desires. I left Equestria for a reason, and until I find my path and understand who I am, I will not return.”

Trixie's refusal of the terms given to her actually surprised Helya, who had thought she would take the bait. She was about to give another offer to have Trixie make a pact with her when Trixie spoke again, her voice snarling.

“And you can forget trying to sweeten the deal with some other gift. I refuse to kill Kael.”

Even if it meant suffering here now, Trixie found herself resolute in her decision. Kael deserved the second chance he was getting, he deserved to save his people from himself...but Trixie? What did she truly have to do in this world that another could not do? She had her second chance when Luna took her under her wing, and she ruined it by failing Luna and by getting herself sent to Hel by the Ursas. Whatever had happened since, Trixie felt that it couldn't have been for the best since her mind still had those memories locked away from her, so why should she live happily if it meant damning Kael to this place for eternity?

This response seemed to be more expected by Helya, who while disappointed still was prepared for this possibility, “How foolish…you would incur the wrath of a god for the sake of the man you love? Even knowing that he is the sort of fool whose lack of willpower can and will lead him to madness and defeat? That you are not partnered with some angel, but an amnesiac revived corpse whose departure from the afterlife defies chronology?”

Trixie's smirk however did catch the goddess by surprise.

“I grew up alone. I’ve always wanted a friend, someone I can trust, someone who actually cares about me and doesn’t just pretend or is just enthralled by who I pretend to be…” Trixie brought a hand to her chest, where Helya had touched before, “If I have to stay here and suffer at your hands so he can live and fulfill the second chance he has before him, I will. He has sacrificed everything he can for me, and as his partner I must do the same. Perhaps this is my own second chance coming to a painful fruition.”

Helya took this in stride, smiling again down at Trixie, “I will deal with him when the time comes, then. Though truth be told, a part of me was hoping you would turn down my generous offer…for now, you and your soul belong to me, and I will enjoy witnessing you suffer.”

Grabbing Trixie with two tentacles, one over the other, Helya lifted Trixie up into the air and began to slowly constrict her as the Elf choked in pain and tried to cry out only to fail due to a lack of breath.

“You belong to me now. Welcome to Helheim, your eternal resting place!”

Trixie shut her eyes and waited for her life to be choked from her, but this did not happen. Instead, she heard someone else, someone new, speak.

“She belongs to no-one.”

Trixie found herself falling to the ground in short order, opening her eyes to see why Helya was suddenly screaming in bloodcurdling pain: someone had hurled a scythe at the massive tentacles and it had carved through them like soft butter. While still gripped by the massive limbs, Trixie felt herself torn away from their powerful grip by something stronger, and she found herself gently landing on the ground with the aid of someone's magic instead of painfully crashing into it like the now removed tentacles.

The scythe twisted through the air in an arc to bring itself back to its owner, a woman tall for a normal Humanoid but who was nowhere near the same scale as Helya. Clad in dark green and black, she wore a dress that revealed near exactly half of her body while shrouding the other half entirely. Her back was turned to Trixie, so she could not see her face, but she could notice the long flowing black hair of the woman that seemed to drift in an ethereal manner while still being a solid object.

“You…” Heyla screamed as she pulled back from the attack she suffered, “You may have broke from your chains, but you will be back in them before long!"

“Who…” Trixie began to say before the woman looked back at her and revealed an all too familiar face, smiling back at Trixie before leaping forward at a speed no mortal could witness to fight the monster known as Helya.

"Hela?" Trixie gawked as she recognized the features of this woman. The spawn of Loki and Luna, she lorded over the dead while wearing the face Luna took while shapeshifted into an Asgardian. Their last meeting, to Trixie's recollection was of Hela torturing her day after day in Hel for crimes Trixie had not even done yet, things Hela knew Trixie could and would do but wanted to avert by having her stay in Hel eternally so she could not bring harm to others.

This begged the question though of why Hela was now fighting on behalf of Trixie against the similarly named Helya in a blur of combat Trixie could not even keep track of as much as she tried. She slowly stood up as she watched the aqua blue of Helya twist about to combat the green and black blur of Hela, but trying to witness it all was actually straining Trixie's eyes.

It all ended in a flash however when suddenly one of Helya's tentacles ripped out of the water and impaled Hela. Luna's face coughed out blood as surprise came across it, shock apparent as she was dealt a crippling blow while a bleeding Helya with wounds all over her body roared.

"THIS IS MY DOMAIN, YOU FOOLISH WRETCH! DID YOU TRULY THINK YOU COULD DEFEAT ME HERE!?"

Her seeming champion defeated, Trixie froze in terror. Hela was the most powerful being Trixie had known before...and now she was resting limp on one of her namesake's many limbs, her scythe having fallen into the dark waters beneath them. In an act of defiance, Hela lifted a hand and summoned to it a Kama, which she then hurled with the last of her strength away from the battle and onto the swamp's terrain. Helya ignored this as she instead set about beating the stunned Hela, not noticing just quite what her foe had done.

A tug on Trixie's arm preceded her being dragged towards where the Kama had been thrown. Shocked just like Hela, Trixie just allowed for it to happen and didn't fight whoever was pulling her along.

"This way Princess!"

Trixie turned her attention to whoever this was, only to find that she recognized them. The blue haired Human who joined her after her arena performance...the one who led Trixie's other fans and was now in Outland with Reuenthal and the others...

"Wait, you're that girl I met at the arena. One of my fans...Sayaka was it?"

Clad in a blue and white custom outfit meant for battle, this Human continued pulling Trixie along with her as she sprinted at a superhuman speed towards the discarded Kama, her face amused as Trixie deducted who she was partially-incorrectly, "Hehe, you probably met another version of me. Time travel's a funny thing after all, but you know all about that. It's a good thing for me though! It means I get out of here and get the chance to help you out again later."

They stopped finally and Sayaka let Trixie go, who cast her gaze back at where they had been to see that Helya was still brutally tearing into Hela, only now hampered by an enraged Night Elf trying to fight her off despite heavy wounds on his own body.

Still, so much of this left Trixie with questions, so she displayed said curiosity on her face as she looked back to Sayaka, "I am confused. Why are you here?"

Sayaka threw her white cape behind her as she reached to her side, where a cutlass rested, "I owed you a favor or ten so I'm here to help out!" pointing to her side, she drew Trixie's attention to the Kama that had been thrown, "Now through the portal once it's open!"

Unlike Kuwabara's bumbling dimension and reality hopping, Hela had torn open a direct portal to the outside of the inn Trixie had been staying at via the Kama. Its tear had not been as big as likely intended given that Hela was not in the best of shape when it was thrown, but the portal was opening for the moment wider and wider, so Trixie could go through it soon enough...she just hoped that it would manage to close behind her.

Trixie's self-preservation was stalled momentarily by something that sent a new set of chills down her spine: whereas she had seen a few giant beings here or there during her stay in Helheim, she now was witnessing a horde of them, countless due to the mists, rushing towards them.

Sayaka did not appear to care about this, as she rushed forward to meet them, hurling a sword at them while summoning another to throw as well, twirling around in a spectacular display of magic that had dozens and dozens of blades all hurling through the air unnaturally to stab their intended targets. The giants did not take this laying down however and they surged forth where their comrades fell, bearing down their many clubs, axes, and swords down on Sayaka who for the most part avoided their strikes, but who was unable to avoid them all from the sheer multitude of them.

Wanting to help, Trixie turned her back on the portal and began to summon forth some of her own magic, "Wait, there's so many of them!"

In a spiral of slashes Sayaka cleared the area around her, giving her a moment to flash a grin back at Trixie, "For reals, let me be cool for once, okay? Your sister got to pull strings and get that idiot guy from before to save you at just the right moment, so I want to do something cool too."

More behemoths bore down on her though, their attacks connecting with Sayaka but dealing no noticeable damage, with the girl suffering the blows yet still capable of operating as if she had not been struck at all. Once she managed to clear that group out, Sayaka sighed to herself and showed the first signs of tiring since the battle began.

"Well, I might as well pull out all the tricks..."

Trixie glanced to the portal and saw that it was almost large enough for her to exit through, but part of her didn't want to leave this person saving her behind...which is why she was shocked when she looked back to find Sayaka about to impale herself through the chest with her own blade after a small dance on the puddles of water common in the swamp terrain, as if she could walk on the liquid.

As the blade plunged through her chest, Sayaka fell limp...but this was no good thing for the enemies she faced, for in her place something rose from the water nearby, a massive monster with a knight's helmet, a towering sword, and the lower body of a mermaid. This giant beast was shrouded in shadows and the mists, keeping it partially from Trixie's sight, but she watched as Sayaka stood up from her seeming suicide and began to fight once more, only now with the aid of a giant monster which possessed a screeching voice that even struck fear into the hearts of these Helbound warriors.

Both fear and awe filled Trixie as she realized that she had most definitely crossed into the world of goddesses and otherworldly beings, driving her to crave for the far simpler and easier to cope with reality she had come from. As this mermaid-monster carved apart its foes, Trixie found herself now losing her desire to aid this other girl as she came to the realization that it was the giants who truly needed help. She stepped back towards the portal, and turned her gaze away from the sight of Sayaka fighting alongside this beast she had summoned by piercing her own heart.

On her way out, Trixie took one last look at Helya, whose decayed and torn wings on her back were revealed as the mists around her were swept away by her vicious strikes into the now prone Hela. The sight of the wings sent pangs into Trixie's own back she could not explain, but she wasn't about to spend the time trying to, instead leaping through the portal and landing on the cold and wet morning grass that lay there.

She looked up just in time to see the portal closing, with her last view of Sayaka being the magical sword wielding girl facing off with Helya's wicked minions.

"Trixie?"

In bed with Kael, Trixie looked over to him as he slowly came awake. She was clinging to his side fiercely, not willing to let go of him as she spent the morning in terror of losing not only her life but his.

"Go...good morning," Trixie greeted, so happy to hear his voice after what she had just went through...what would have been a living nightmare for the rest of time if not for the intervention of others.

While still barely awake, Kael was confused about something his nose was drawing his attention towards, "You smell like seaweed."

Not willing to explain it, instead Trixie just groaned as she felt the morning's sun beat down on her face, "Don't remind me..."

Something at the edge of the bed moved itself to climb up on top of Trixie, tugging at her clothing playfully, "Big sis needs a bath!"

Trixie dismissively gave Nana a soft push away, not ready for a bouncing puppy-like little girl this morning, especially since the girl's pigtails looked like fins...

Still, Nana's idea did hold merit: Trixie did need a bath, and it was one of the things she did regret about this world that they did not have them as regularly available as in Equestria, "I wonder if there is any water near here..."

Kael buried his face into Trixie just like she had been doing the past few hours, ignoring her smell to instead enjoy the comfort of having her by his side, "Probably somewhere nearby, since there does not seem to be a short supply of it here."

"True..." a simple solution came to mind, though Trixie's groggy mind wasn't quite sure if it was possible, "I should learn a spell to clean myself. Do I know one of those yet?"

Kael rolled over and grabbed a book from their table, flipping through the pages of their spellbook until he found something about water, which he then dropped on Trixie before burying his face in Trixie again, "Here's one for purifying water, and another for how to infuse magic into it..."

With the ability to now basically create her own bath via cleansed water, Trixie smiled at the opportunity to feel clean again after all the bloodshed, sweat, and now sand and seaweed she had endured, "Want to join me?"

"Trixie, I'm not going to bathe with you. Everyone already thinks we're in a relationship, and..."

While before even Trixie would have drawn a certain line at bathing together, Trixie did not feel the same restrictions that day given what she just went through unbeknownst to the others, "If everyone already thinks that, then why shouldn't we? It's not going to change their minds, and what's the big deal? You've seen me naked, haven't you? You aren't some common lech, so I don't mind if it's you, and I did make you smell like seaweed after all."

Kael blushed as Trixie literally asked him to suffer through seeing her naked, "I...I think I'll pass."

"You sure? When was the last time you bathed, other than when you got me all wet in the Monastery?"

While he was indeed in love with her, even Kael had some boundaries and he scoffed at Trixie's flippant manner of speaking, "Do you really not notice anything about the way you talk?"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie has no idea what you mean, and is hurt you would imply she speaks in a less than satisfactory manner."

Not understanding the sexual tension in the room, Nana poked at Trixie's shoulder to get her attention, "Hey Trixie. Big sister. Big sis Trixie," now having Trixie's less than amused attention, Nana asked her question "Can Nana bathe with you? I've never had a bath as a person before."

Trixie grinned at this animal who was now experiencing full sentience for the first time, learning how to be a Humanoid like Trixie herself had been not too long ago, "Sure Nana. I'll teach you how to take care of your mane, okay?"

"Yay! I'll go find a good spot, big sis!"

Nana rushed out of the room to go do as she said, while in her place came an out of breath Vanessa, who stopped at the doorway and near collapsed as she saw that Trixie was inside.

"Vanessa?" Trixie asked with some concern, getting up from the bed to go help her stand, Kael following suit. When they tried helping her though she pushed past them and instead lean against the bed, which she then knelt in front of as she broke out crying.

"I thought she was gone. I thought..."

That morning the early-bird Vanessa had noticed Trixie was missing and had looked all around for miles to try and locate her, having lost track of her somewhere inside the forest. So panicked that Trixie had been taken, she had not even spared the time to come back and inform the others as she instead hurriedly searched for her, only to finally return in defeat and hear Nana's voice mention her 'big sis'.

Kael reached Vanessa first, for Trixie was frozen by some guilt in how her disappearance hurt someone she cared for. Kael brought a hand down to the Human's shoulder and lowered himself to her level to try comforting her, "Trixie's not going anywhere. She won't abandon you, or me, or anyone here if she can help it."

He figured that Trixie must have stepped outside and somehow picked up this seaweed scent, and her lack of being there gave Vanessa this near panic attack. While close to the truth, he had no idea just how much more had occurred in his night's rest.

Trixie joined him in comforting Vanessa, and after a moment the rebellious girl cast aside her distraught look and began to more silently sulk away from them, leaving Trixie to try and draw attention away from her disappearance by acting like nothing happened. She went back to her spellbook...though soon found Vanessa sitting next to her on the bed, looking over at what she was doing.

It turned out that the constantly heartbroken girl was clingy after all she had suffered. Trixie could relate.

"What are you looking at?"

Trixie shrugged, not wanting to admit that she was drawing attention away from her little...excursion, "I think there are some spells I could start testing out soon, so I am going over the details so nothing goes wrong."

Reaching into a small bag, Vanessa pulled a large book from it that was only able to be stored thanks to the bag's magical properties, "I found this from some guy's room. Doan or something."

Trixie smiled as she received a gift from a former criminal and murderer, appreciating that Vanessa had already come such a long way so as to be genuinely distraught over her disappearance and that she was even willing to gift something she stole to the surrogate mother of sorts she had picked up, "Thank you. This will be sure to help," brushing Vanessa's partially wavy hair out of her eyes, Trixie smiled at the younger girl, "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Vanessa paused, not fighting Trixie's touch at all, "I..."

This seemed to be a bit more than just Trixie's suddenly not being there in the early morning...something else was eating at the young girl, Trixie was sure, and if Vanessa storming off last night meant anything Trixie was pretty sure what was doing it.

"It's about your uncle, isn't it?"

Vanessa snarled and crossed her arms, looking away from Trixie, "He's not my uncle."

"Oh, is that so? Could have fooled me with what I heard," Trixie playfully joked as she put an arm around Vanessa.

This did not go over well with Vanessa, who pushed Trixie's arm away and growled at the assertion that she was related to a Knight of Stormwind, "He's not!"

Trixie was going to take the issue further when something tackled her side and instantly went about pulling on her to drag her outside.

"Big sis, I found a spot! Come on, come on!"

Looking to Kael, Trixie conveyed with a nod and her eyes that he should take over with Vanessa. While Trixie left with Nana, Kael indeed did take over in her stead and even sat down right where Trixie had been. Vanessa had moved over to one edge of the bed to be as far away as she could, and she had her body turned so that no-one could see what she was scribbling with a pencil in her journal she had pulled out as Trixie left. She wanted to appear tough, but she was too young to fully keep the tears from welling in her eyes, prompting Kael to speak as he sought to soothe her soul.

"Whether he is or he isn't your uncle, Lavitz is a good man. You shouldn't hold any of this against him."

"I don't need someone looking out for me," Vanessa blatantly lied, not meeting Kael's eyes as she continued to put something down in her journal.

"Despite your statement to the contrary, I very much believe you do and that you know as much yourself," Kael called her on the obvious falsehood, causing Vanessa to scoff but to otherwise stay silent, "You had to grow up early, looking after an entire criminal organization when you were still a child and going under cover with the local population. But just because you had to act the part of an adult earlier than some, does not mean you don't have your own needs."

Vanessa stopped with her journal as she felt a hand softly touch the top of her head and run through her hair to remove the unwashed and thus unruly strands from her face just like Trixie had. This caused Vanessa to blush in embarrassment as she realized she didn't really mind as much as she wanted to, especially since for the first time in what felt like years she was receiving physical care...the Saldeans had known her secret and had known that she was standoffish by nature, so they did not show her much physical affection to respect her boundaries. Unfortunately it was an instance of someone saying they don't want what they truly did want and need, for Vanessa felt herself calming down as Kael pulled her into a hug.

"If Trixie was just some normal woman who helped save your life despite you kidnapping her, then I think you would have remained cynical and tried to distance her from your mind," Kael smiled down at Vanessa as she awkwardly began to return the hug given to her, not having a true response to what he was saying since deep down she knew he was right, "Instead, Trixie is almost your reverse. She's a young adult who acts like a child a good part of the time, even though she can be more serious if she needs to. While allegedly she is looking out for you in some ways as the adult, you actually are a good deal of the reason we are all still alive and are looking after us."

Vanessa nervously looked up at him, her lip quivering as she dropped the barriers she had spent years building up, "Aren't you scared of me? I..." she fought off the urge to sob as she remembered just what she had done, "I killed the last people who looked after me. Don't you think I might do it again?"

A firm shake of the head was all it took to surprise Vanessa, "No, I don't. You obviously regret what you've done, and you only did that because you thought they might willingly or unwillingly cause your own death," Kael ruffled her hair again with a smirk on his face, "So long as Trixie keeps from being a burden to you, then I don't fear for her safety."

Vanessa lowered her head down to rest on his chest, a part of her wishing that she could be holding her father while the rest was just grateful that anyone was daring to show her the same affection the deceased Edwin VanCleef had, "You all should hate me."

Kael rose an eyebrow, "Because you kidnapped Trixie? Because you fought us? I dare say we've seen worse."

In a revealing way, Vanessa kept trying to build up a case as to why they shouldn't care about her, "I'm not a good person. I just want to hurt worse people and other people get hurt because of me."

"The fact that you feel bad tells me you're not the sociopath you likely think yourself to be."

Again disarmed, Vanessa removed herself from the embrace and curled up at the edge of the bed again with her journal. Kael couldn't tell if she was scribbling or writing something, but he did notice that it was a way of her withdrawing from what was around her. She likely had a hundred such defensive mechanisms to shut down her emotions, but he wasn't going to let her off the hook that easily. He wouldn't push her much more on the subject, but he wasn't going to let her act like she was alone in the room.

"Trying to hide behind your journal?"

Vanessa huffed as she continued trying to be antisocial. This only inspired Kael to press onwards, and he smiled wryly down at the journal in which Vanessa apparently kept secrets and daily events.

"I wonder what you've put down about me in there?"

Giving up on her attempt to ignore him, Vanessa blushed as she handed it over to him.

"Y...you can look if you want."

Kael actually expected more of a fight and so he was surprised to be receiving it, "Are you sure?"

"I haven't had that much of a chance to write about you, but I..."

Looking inside the journal proved illuminating for Kael, for whereas a lot of it was a daily log of things, a good deal more was her collecting information that could possibly lead her to killing the man who defeated her father as well as fantasizing about all the things she would do to him when that occasion came around, the surprising part to the journal was that interspersed with the writing was a series of drawings.

"These drawings are quite good," Kael flipped past a page with a girl gnome with the label 'Chromie' beneath it and onto a page of Cookie, both drawn with detail Kael did not think someone so young could muster, "Where did you learn to draw like this?"

"The design plans of my father's ship were damaged and lost, so someone had to come up with and draw everything..." Vanessa explained partially, seeming to imply that her little hobby came from her work with the Defias, "The Brotherhood is a bunch of former engineers, but that doesn't mean all of them can draw well enough to properly convey their ideas or to be understood."

Kael stopped flipping through the pages when he came across what he guessed was the only image of him...and it had him kissing Trixie.

Vanessa was a shipper, he came to realize.

"Yet another person who thinks Trixie and I..." he sighed. Why could everyone see it but Trixie herself?

"She loves you."

The factual tone Vanessa suddenly had caught Kael off-guard, causing him to inquire about it, "Did she tell you that?"

Vanessa looked away again, nervous about having this conversation, "She looks at you the way I've seen the happiest married couples look at their spouses. She might not know it, but she does."

Kael grinned as he thought about something...why would this girl care to observe the way happy married couples look at one another? Did she perhaps wish she had a happy family of her own, as compared to the broken one she grew up with? Perhaps being without normalcy for so long made her long for what so many others had.

In any case, Kael sighed and returned the book to Vanessa, "I hope you're right."

She went back to drawing while Kael instead took to reading his spellbook while lounging on the bed. It might be nearly midday, but he did not wish to actually get up and do anything. After a little while passed a slightly damp Trixie and Nana returned to the room, Trixie's clothes no longer reeking of seaweed thanks to her cleaning them while she was out with the aid of her magic.

"What are you two up to?" Trixie asked as Nana ran off to go eat something, the young girl starving after not having eaten the whole morning.

Vanessa showed Kael another page in her journal which made him grin while he responded to Trixie's question, "Just going over Vanessa's journal. Did your bath go well?"

"It wet my appetite for cleanliness for the time being," she showed her palms to be free of water before trying to pick up Vanessa's journal, "My hands are dry, can I look?"

Vanessa tugged it away and tried hiding it as Trixie reached for it, not sure about how Trixie might respond to what she had been drawing, "I..."

"How come Kael can look and I can't?" Trixie pouted like a child, upset that Kael got to do something she didn't.

Feeling guilty now, Vanessa handed it over with some reluctance, "Here..."

Trixie gleefully took it and began to flip through the pages. She noticed in her quick browsing that Vanessa had drawn Karl, with some lines of fighting advice he must have given her on the page as well, showing that they had at least bonded to some degree. As she continued Trixie finally came across herself, with multiple pages dedicated to her which did a lot to boost her ego.

"You draw me like I'm some kind of goddess," Trixie grinned as she spoke with some irony that the others could not catch, "Finally, someone sees me for who I am."

Another page left Trixie questioning which blonde haired man it was, "I can't tell if this is Kael or Karl."

Kael sighed as Trixie completely glossed over obvious details just because the faces were so similar, "My eyebrows and ears are a bit bigger than his, Trixie, though he does look quite similar to me."

"That one's Kael, Karl is earlier on," Vanessa explained as she peeked at which one Trixie was looking at, "Karl's teaching me some of the things he learned at SI-7. He's a quiet guy, but he's nice when you get to know him."

Stopping on another page, Trixie recognized yet another blonde, though this one made her curious why Vanessa had him at all, "I see that you have Jerid here too."

Vanessa curled up her fist and glared at the page of the Crusader whose jerk-like behavior made her dislike him from the start, even if she did feel a little bad she killed his friend, "I drew him so I could better remember whose face to punch if we come across those Crusaders again."

Studying the picture of Jerid, Trixie laughed as she noticed a similarity to their resident Knight's own appearance and hair, "I bet if Lavitz grew his hair out a bit they'd look almost as similar as you do to Karl, Kael," she paused as she noticed that Vanessa had used a blue coloration for the eyes, which apparently was a rare feature, "Funny, I'd think maybe they were related thanks to the eye-thing if Lavitz wasn't such an old-school prude whose own mother can't get him to bring home a wife yet."

Lavitz wasn't the sort to have a bastard child after all, so no worries there. Passing the thought away, Trixie flipped through the pages more and saw someone she didn't actually recognize and who didn't have a name on the page. It was an Elf with silver hair, but looked like Kael in a lot of ways...did she run out of whatever yellow stuff she was using to color Kael's hair?

"Who's this?"

Vanessa blushed as Trixie showed her one of her most recent drawings, honestly having hoped Trixie would lose interest after a few pages, "I...uhhh..." with a sigh, Vanessa gave up her resistance and decided to fill Trixie in, "When I was thinking about family last night, I drew what I thought yours would be like..."

To her surprise, this didn't seem to offend Trixie in the slightest, and Trixie began to flip through pages and pages of small sketches of what Trixie's children might look like...all of which shared some kind of features that Kael had. Despite the implications of this, what really got Trixie's attention was the fact that it all was colored, "I'm surprised you were able to draw it all in color."

"Inks are easy to make if you know the right flowers and ingredients to use," Vanessa explained, her knowledge of plants and other materials for poisons coming in handy in a different way than usual.

"I hope you don't mind that I used Kael for...you know..."

Trixie laughed at the half-hearted apology, "Well, children only carry half their blood from their mother and the other half has to come from their father, so of course any child of mine could not be as perfect as me, but I could always choose the closest thing to perfect for the father so that they may mirror my greatness. I can't blame you for thinking the same."

"You're certainly full of yourself," Kael quipped.

"If I seek to be the best at everything I do, then why should I shirk my attitude when it comes to whatever children I have? Would their imperfections not thus imply imperfections on my own part?"

"I suppose..." Kael murmured, not sure he wanted to have this conversation.

Trixie handed Vanessa her journal back while grinning smugly, "I would want to have the best man as my chosen mate, but what makes a man ideal? I believe the man should be kind, for cruelty is a flaw and it also would assist in raising the child, but also intelligent, for intelligence is a heritable trait I believe, as well as powerful for what would it do to have foals who can't fend for themselves?"

Kael massaged his temple as he listened to the woman he loved talk about her ideal lover, "So where do you expect to find this Prince Charming?"

"Speaking hypothetically, I don't need to. As Vanessa thinks, you more than fit the bill on all of my criteria, so if I were ever to decide to be a mother you would be the best candidate as my spouse."

Trixie was speaking freely thanks to her recent brush with Hel, and so Kael was left silent as he tried to grapple with the fact that Trixie just in a manner of speaking said she wanted him to be her husband in a hypothetical future.

This revelation was not even diminished as Trixie tried to explain to Vanessa why the drawings in the book might be a bit inaccurate though, "However, Vanessa, Kael's a Prince and I'm a nobody, so when he's on his throne he'll have to marry some rich princess or something like that, meaning this is all just hypothetical and imaginary."

Trixie knew in fact that she was indeed not a nobody, but in this land nobody except Tarkin really cared that she was a Princess elsewhere, so she was as good as a nobody.

Kael sat up and tried to interject, his shoulders moving in a nonchalant shrug, "It comes to mind that we've heard nothing of me having a spouse or lover, or anything about others expecting me to have one. While in an idyllic monarchy what you're saying would be correct, but I think anything goes."

"You want to establish the best government you can though, right? I mean you don't want to be like that evil jerk who kicks puppies in Outland. Choosing a correct political marriage is important. Princess Luna told me that. She was courting a Prince who held claims to two kingdoms after all."

"Two?"

"Yeah, long story. Will tell you when we have like an hour of us time when we're both awake," Trixie paused as a random fact came to mind, "Speaking of which, I didn't realize this before I think, but we've been sleeping together every night. Isn't that how babies are made?"

Both Kael and Vanessa gawked at Trixie's cluelessness. Even having returned from Hel, Trixie was not really clued in on how a lot of things worked. To the others present they just thought she was being particularly dense, but in fact there was a bit more behind it than that.

"Wait, do you not know how..."

Trixie balked at the stares she was receiving, "Know how what? How babies are made? Of course I do! What, do you think I believe in the stork? I just...don't know the specifics. Nobody has ever told me how girls don't digest their babies, since they're in our stomachs right?"

Kael sighed as he realized that if, by some miracle, he managed to wed Trixie...it would only be after someone explained to her how certain things worked.

In a nervous but slightly hopeful voice, Vanessa spoke up, "So...back to my drawings, are you saying they could actually happen?

Trixie nodded, "I don't see why not," looking over to Kael, she hugged him and made him blush red, "Changing our arrangement a bit wouldn't be a bad thing I think...provided Kael really doesn't care about all the Prince stuff..."

She couldn't come out and say it, since she never had really felt this way before, but...she had come to realize just how much he meant to her. That she was willing to sacrifice her own soul for his, just as he was willing to sacrifice his life for her own, confirmed for Trixie what she had been trying to pretend wasn't true for quite some time.

She was in love with her partner...which was why, when he kissed her on the lips a few moments later, Trixie returned it and in fact pulled him in closer so she could wrap her arms around him. She knew it was selfish, but she didn't care and she was done pretending that her intense affection for him was just platonic.

He was her Prince, and she would do anything for him.

Author's Note

IT HAPPENED.

Ahem. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Quite a lot happened after all, so plenty to talk about!

Meta 3: Picture This!

A/N: Special thanks to monaman, Sidetrack, the other sans, Amethyst Blade, Housecarl of Clan Drops, Booster Spice, GamerGoddessDin, and Kitsuja for your comments last chapter! I do hope to hear from you in the coming chapters, and I hope you all continue to enjoy!

I'm going to be a bit busy with real life for a little bit, but I wanted to give you all something so here is another of my meta bits for you all.

Expect many, many pictures.

Hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

To begin with, some music!

Character songs for this coming arc:

Trixie

Trixie has awakened her connection and teachings from Princess Luna, so expect her to unleash that power upon her foes now, especially since she won't have to hold back against the Undead like she likes doing against living foes. Trixie may still be a goof, but she is going to wreck those she comes across who aren't too far above her in level.

Jerid vs Vanessa

It's an AMV for the former, since in his own series he is hunting a child to take revenge for them killing everyone he cares about, and so he and Vanessa are going to be going at it pretty fiercely. Jerid's character arc is a mirror of that of Vanessa, someone who is a bit of a jerk who lost people they care about and seeking vengeance. How Vanessa responds will determine her character growth, for now she's on the receiving end of blind fury. The song also works in reverse however as Vanessa's issues with wrath will see her retaliating. Since I do love mirroring original character arcs however, do be warned that if one takes a fine tooth comb look through this video that they may figure out where certain future chapters will go. :raritywink:

It's taken a bit of build up, but now the rivalry begins.

Avitus

While Jerid is a personal threat to Vanessa, the one that will be a larger threat to the group as a whole will not be him but rather his ally Avitus, whose cynicism will bring him to complete odds with our hopeful heroes and cause him to be relentless in not only pursuing them but killing them outright rather than waste any time messing with them. He is not Mograine and will not waste his efforts to try and personally gain from the matter, he just will unleash a never ending hail of fury (aka, gunfire) down upon his foes. Tense times will arise from this, and it wouldn't be out of the question to think that his standoffish nature will bring him to blows not only with foes but with allies as well.

Now, I know what people are thinking after last chapter...

THEY DID IT. THEY FINALLY KISSED.

And I know, right? It took long enough...though...

In my very first drafts of the overarching story, Trixie and Kael wouldn't get together until after the initial Burning Crusade material, but given that I have had major plot rewrites since then (mostly as I come up with ideas on how to expand previously small or minor things) and things have gone in a way that I thought it'd be stupid not to have them get together, they are together now.

Now, there's something I don't do, and that is love drama. This can be seen by how I framed the romance in the first place: it hasn't been "will they or won't they", it was "when will they". Even the inclusion of Jaina is not there to be a third wheel instigator of a love triangle, but rather to be there as a part of the major lore of the setting. Man I hate love triangles. So now that Trixie and Kael are together, don't expect them to go through any stupid drama. Kael's the sort that can hang in there and still love a woman who has no affection whatsoever for him, so him actually having his feelings returned by Trixie means basically eternal devotion. On the flip side, Trixie is so starved for validation and love that she will sponge whatever feelings are given her way by him and return them in full. So we have a mutually beneficial relationship here, and this is really just me letting you all know that now that it's a thing, I won't be going back on it or pulling any stupid relationship drama. Will they agree on everything or never get mad? No, but that's just how people work.

I know I've had my love for other series and things ruined by writers placing unnecessary relationship drama in it, so I'm not going to do that to you all.

We are currently at stage 5 of this. Let us wait for stage 6.

Couple of things to look forward to in our coming arc without spoiling too much...

~~Some people are going to die.~~ :scootangel:

Instead of a large, multiple chapter spanning dungeon expect one or two chapter dungeons in terms of content. This way we get a larger sampling while still getting a taste for them. Also, expect to see some more major cities such as Orgrimmar and Undercity.

Oh, and the Crusaders are coming for them. Think of them as enemy aligned player characters occupying the same space as our dear protagonists, in that they will be enemies of most nearly everything the protagonists come across as well, but they will be trying to kill the protagonists while they do their thing in different dungeons and places.

Oh, this made me think, and how about we do some character images again? Here are ones who have had recent mention or will have some kind of importance soon, so you have a vivid image to associate with each of them.

Trixie Lulamoon, Princess of Equestria

Trixie with Princess Luna

Kael'thas Sunstrider, Leader of the Blood Elves

Vanessa VanCleef, Leader of the Defias Brotherhood

Lavitz Slambert, Knight of Stormwind

Karl, Hired Mercenary and former SI-7 Agent

Dirge, Defector from the Scarlet Crusade

Nana, Team Pet turned Child (younger one in image)

Cookie, Vanessa's Murloc and cook

Grand Moff Tarkin, Emissary from Equestria

Aria Blaze, Criminal earning freedom by serving Grand Moff Tarkin

Adagio Dazzle, Criminal earning freedom by serving Grand Moff Tarkin

Aria and Adagio

Jerid Messa, Scarlet Crusader

Mouar Pharoah, Scarlet Crusader

Jerid and Mouar

Avitus, The Blood Raven of the Scarlet Crusade

Renault Mograine, former Commander of the Scarlet Monastery

Sally Whitemane, High Inquisitor of the Scarlet Crusade

Mograine and Whitemane

Brigitte Abbendis, present leader of the Scarlet Crusade

Saidan Dathrohan, Missing Grand Crusader of the Scarlet Crusade

Oskar von Reuenthal, Co-leader of the renegade Outland forces

Mitter'meyer, Co-leader of the renegade Outland forces

Mitter'meyer and Evangelin

Sayaka Miki, supposed fan of Trixie's (true motivations unclear)

Kazuma Kuwabara, Useful idiot who stumbled into the wrong universe thanks to Hela's manipulating events

Anavel, former soldier under the Kael'thas Sunstrider of Tempest Keep

Tony, Karl's brother and technical adviser in Outland

Chromie, Member of the Bronze Dragonflight

Jaina Proudmoore, Mage of the Kirin Tor

Varian Wrynn, Missing King of Stormwind

Anduin Wrynn, Prince of Stormwind

Lady Prestor, Royal Adviser of Stormwind

Bolvar Fordragon, Regent of Stormwind

Thrall, Warchief of the Horde and leader of the Orcs

Sylvanas Windrunner, Leader of the Forsaken

Varimathras, Adviser of Sylvanas

Lor'themar Theron, Regent of Silvermoon City

Kargath Bladefist, Warchief of the "True" Horde and servant of Illidan

Illidan Stormrage, Leader of the Illidari of Outland

Garithos, Deceased leader of the Humans of the Eastern Kingdoms

Arthas Menethil The Lich King, Leader of the Scourge

Helya, Ruler of Helheim

Edwin VanCleef, Former leader of the Defias Brotherhood

Yang Wen-li, Innkeeper

Princess Luna, Ruler of Equestria, Asgard, and Jotunheim

Loki, Trickster God and Ruler of Asgard, Jotunheim, and Equestria

Luna and Loki

I'm Hela sure I forgot some people, but the above list is pretty big as it is and I think it's alright for the time being. We have a giant cast!

Now, something else that might be on people's minds:

Is Lavitz actually Vanessa's uncle? Was Dirge correct?

Yes, Dirge was correct, because Dirge may be a canon character who has yet to reveal his true identity, but his OC bits are drawn from Doctor House and thus in turn come from Sherlock Holmes (who House is based after). I've been working at hinting it for quite awhile, but Lavitz has a sister in this universe (unlike his original) and both he and his mother don't like talking about her. This can be seen when they visit Lavitz's house and Kael notices some things like Lavitz having a picture of his family which happens to include said sister.

The characters of the story are all interconnected in their own ways. Funnily enough, it's not that they are all connected mainly to Trixie or Kael, but rather many of them branch off of Vanessa in one way or another...though this makes sense in the way that Kael is specifically hiding from the people who really know him, and Trixie is in a new land so people don't have many direct connections to her yet. So, as the third most important character, Vanessa is the one who has the most connections: first to Reuenthal as the man who slew her father, next to Lavitz as the brother of her mother, and there are more that I am waiting for people to notice. There's another major one that will make a coming arc quite hilarious.

I decided to use Reuenthal as a basic adventurer of the Vanilla World of Warcraft material such as the original low level Deadmines, since Kael and Trixie's little adventure doesn't start at the beginning of Classic/Vanilla WoW but rather towards its end: someone had to have done the material they didn't do, and I wanted a face to put on it. Furthermore, it ties into his original universe incarnation's character to have a woman seeking revenge on him, so it made him an even better candidate for being on the receiving end of a revenge plotline.

For Lavitz, he is a simple but great character at heart as a best friend and loyal knight, the guy you want by your side on an adventure...but he didn't have much beyond that since he's from an old JRPG with a large cast and his story is really just on the first disc of a four disc game. So, by giving him a single extra family member I have given him room for growth: he sees his sister in Vanessa, and a knight of Stormwind is now trying to look after a member of the Defias, their sworn enemies. It won't be easy though for him, since Vanessa already has a bond to Trixie (and by proxy, Kael) so she isn't as willing to get over her pride to receive Lavitz's familial affection since she is already receiving it from another source. If she was starved of it she would begrudgingly latch onto him, but in their present situation Lavitz is going to have to try and earn his niece's love.

The next major connection? I already gave my hints, so I'd just say to look at hair and eye color. And irony. I'm big on irony. :trollestia: Just remember everyone, I do. But you've already probably picked up on that. :rainbowlaugh:

It was noted by someone last time that Chromie was in Vanessa's notebook, and for that there is a good and simple explanation...but I apologize that you may have to wait awhile before we get to that. It was just a hint of future things to come, but time warping shenanigans will ensue.

If you really want another clue, I put it back at Chromie's first appearance at the arena. No, I'm not kidding. Go look and search carefully. Then you'll be like super ahead in knowledge. :rainbowlaugh:

Oh, returning to the subject of Romance, expect to get some clues as to where perhaps some other romances will be going now that the Trixie/Kael one is locked in.

For the pairings, expect them to be either straightforward or delve into the realm of my love for irony. :twilightsmile: I'll leave it up to you all to figure out what that means, but I will be giving bits and hints to that effect soon.

One example though of a romance is one that's happening so offscreen it's in another story! Luna married Loki from Marvel? When did that happen? Well, I kind of have an entire story based around that, which culminated in Trixie going to Hel, meeting Kael, people shipping them, and me creating this story for the two of them, so I'd recommend going and reading that if you want a quick answer. :rainbowlaugh: If you don't though, don't worry, I've got you covered. All will be unveiled with time, I just need to do it bit by bit since you all could see how difficult it is to do just plain exposition for awhile.

In Loki's own myths though he has a child with a horse, so I kind of just twisted them to my own needs. :rainbowlaugh:

So, Helheim, am I right? What's up with that?

Well, if one looks back one will see that I have been very insistent from the very start that Trixie's referring to "Hel" rather than "Hell" was on purpose. The best way I can explain it is that the "Hell" of this setting is an amalgamation of the many different Hells, Hels, Hades, and other things of the sort from across the multiverse. There are entities who control each of the sections, such as Helya controlling the Helheim connected to Azeroth but not the Helheim connected to Asgard. The Asgardian one is controlled by a woman known as Hela, who is the daughter of Loki and Luna and who is a timeless embodiment of death itself. She is the top god in terms of "Hell", and she came to set things straight when Helya tried to wrongfully claim Trixie's soul, enlisting in her aid a Night Elf who died before he was ever born, a man who has fought demons and been to a hellish realm (Kuwabara), and an angel of sorts who has experience with death itself. Perhaps if she had more time she could have used her powers to bring more souls to aid her against Helya, but she kind of was in a rush since Helya was already having her Kavaldir (the giants) going after Trixie.

If one thinks for a moment, Hela's rush to aid Trixie is curious thanks to Trixie remembering being tortured by Hela the last time she was in a Helheim, but may come a bit clearer when one remembers they are sisters by marriage: Luna took Trixie in and made her a Princess underneath her, meaning that Trixie has a direct tie to the top god of Death.

Keeping that in mind, one may begin to see why she might be so special compared to the others in Azeroth. It is not the complete picture, but it is a piece of the puzzle to keep in mind.

It is also why every single party member they have had and nearly every single referenced character in the story so far (not 100%, but many of them) died in their own series. Don't believe me? Lavitz, Reuenthal, Karl, Vanessa (allegedly, revealed just recently in Legion to be alive), Kael'thas himself, Tarkin...the list goes on, but Trixie is currently surrounded by people who should be dead. Not only are they out of place in terms of where they are, but they ought to be suffering in Hel or living nicely off in Valhalla right now, but instead they are here with Trixie on her quest to make the most of this second chance of a life.

While I intend to follow character arcs as they were in their original series, don't expect things to be automatically like how they were there. I mean, Karl died in his debut appearance in Die Hard right before he could kill the hero (or in this instance, Mograine) yet here he stands. So just because they died in their origin series doesn't mean they have a death sentence here...but similarly just because someone ought to live doesn't mean they will do so here.

And yes, I do think so far ahead to have set Sayaka's appearance up nearly thirty chapters ago when I included her at the arena. :rainbowlaugh: I tend to do stuff like that a lot whenever possible.

Oh, and in case anyone was curious what the monster she summoned looks like, if you can't make it out accurately in her picture above, here it is.

Only requires the sacrifice of your heart! :heart:

Author's Note

That's all for this time! It took awhile to compile all of those images after all.

Hope you enjoyed this little discussion of some of what is going on, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Level 38: The Undead Scourge

A/N: Special thanks to monaman, Sidetrack, the other sans, Amethyst Blade, Housecarl of Clan Drops, Booster Spice, GamerGoddessDin, and Kitsuja for your comments on the last chapter, and the same people as well as Phaoray for the comment on the most recent meta chapter. Your support is very much appreciated, and I apologize for the delays. Had a lot of real life drama I had to continually deal with, but I think I'm in the clear for the moment so things will get back on track now.

Hope you all enjoy, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

"For Lady Sylvanas!"

"For the Lich King!"

The Plaguelands were a place of many factions, and so skirmishes were as common as the days themselves. The Forsaken under Sylvanas would try to encroach upon the territory of the entrenched mindless dead risen to fight again by the Lich King and his servants. The Scourge in turn tried time and time again to force out the native Scarlet Crusaders from their towers and their fortresses to hold the ground uncontested, with their Human enemies trying to do the same right back towards them.

"Burn, heretics! By the Light be purged!"

Unfortunately for both of the Undead groups clashing against one another in one such skirmish, their other dance partner had come to tango, and it was not the regular Crusaders who might be equal in strength to the forces gathered but rather the Scarlet Crusade's finest.

Using the aptly named Neverending Hail of Devastation, Avitus stood upon a hill and fired down at the Undead forces fighting one another, carving them apart as the large caliber bullets punched fist sized holes through their victims. To say he was targeting them would be to lie, for the sheer volume of the gunfire rid any need to actually aim at the dozens of individuals slamming against one another in the brawl of dead bodies.

To turn one's attention away from their immediate enemy would be to die, but to stay fighting them while being torn apart by bullets infused with the holy energies of the Light would also mean to return to the dirt from which they were once risen. It was in this manner that both forces were cut down relentlessly to the last man, with the stragglers trying to climb out of the pile of mangled bodies to try and escape or to retaliate against the one who ambushed them.

Unfortunately for them, no matter which way they decided to react, they were met with the same fate: to forever lay beside their fallen comrades as they were brutally put down and out of their misery with a perhaps overzealous series of bullets through their faces and chest cavities.

One Undead from Sylvanas' army rose an arm up to try and shield their face as the muzzle of Avitus' weapon shone in their face, "Mercy!"

Six bullets later, they collapsed with what little remained of their arm, Avitus snarling at the dead Undead.

"Not even the living could ask that of me."

Having taken care of a small army all on his own thanks to them distracting one another, Avitus began to wonder what was taking his allies so long. Sure, he had left early, but he had the heaviest equipment and they had agreed to all meet here with their various forces for the mission by now.

He was no longer alone however, as partway through his slaughter the low ranked Mouar and her partner Jerid Messa arrived. Jerid was cutting down some stragglers from the conflict who had not been in the massive melee, while Mouar reported right to their superior, her eyes darting back and forth between her comrade still fighting and Avitus as he cleaned the barrel of his bloodied weapon.

"Recruit, status report."

Mouar nearly shook at his grizzled voice, rage and fury penetrating his terse sentence even without him yelling.

"All forces are ready and accounted for, sir. They will be here in a few moments."

Avitus snorted and shook his head, accepting the situation for what it was and grateful that at least things were shaping up now, "Good. I have heard that your ranged combat abilities are up to par, so you will be aiding me in the coming battle at Scholomance."

His orders conflicted with Mouar's initial ones to serve alongside Jerid, causing her to tilt her head to express her confusion, "But sir, aren't I supposed to work with Jerid and the other recruits?"

"Mograine and his foolish followers will think themselves above the rest of our forces and act out of step with us, so it is important that we, the 'scum' he looks down upon work together so as to not repeat his failures."

Seeing his logic, Mouar acceded to his command, "Yes sir."

The other Scarlet Crusaders fell into place soon after in a large crowd, numbering a few dozen in total between Mograine's large group of Veterans, Avitus and his own personal squad, and Jerid and the recruits assigned to him just now. With the group all formed around the man who had just slaughtered their foe, Avitus raised his voice to yell at them.

"Listen up here maggots! I don't give a damn if you are new or if you are old like myself, we march today with one purpose! There are those who have drawn the blood of our comrades, and so shall we abide this? Shall we let the loss of not only our brothers, but our territory pass?!"

He was not an orator, so he would keep this short, but even the perpetually furious man felt some satisfaction with the yells and cheers he received back from the others. Perhaps they would be able to pull their weight anyways.

"Bring me blood, Scarlet Crusaders! Go to battle in your white uniforms and come back with the scarlet you claim to embody!"

While Avitus was just beginning to enjoy himself, Mograine stepped forward from the crowd with a large grin on his face. Whitemane standing behind him in support, he seemed to take Avitus' place at the head of the group by standing in front of him arrogantly.

"Brother Avitus, I must say I find your speech compelling, but do remember who is in charge of this operation."

This was met with the response a reasonable person might have expected of Avitus grabbing Mograine by the collar and snarling right into his face, "And do remember brother whose fault it is that we are on this mission! Do not speak to me until the blood of our brothers and sisters is avenged, or you will join them."

Avitus threw the other man to the ground, Mograine falling awkwardly due to the uneven ground of the hill they were on. He attempted to get back up and accost his subordinate for effectively replacing him in terms of command and for threatening him, but Avitus strode past him and stomped on Mograine's one hand as he did so.

Once he finally did manage to get up with Avitus gone to rally their forces, Mograine decided to take out his anger on the closest subordinate to him who he knew and could effectively diminish like he just had been.

"Lieutenant Jerid, the first of your recruits are here now. Do not fail General Abbendis in training them or in helping them reach their potential."

The blonde haired man turned his blue eyes back to look at Mograine, having been trying to pick out from among the crowd just who was actually going to fill up his squad now that Mouar wasn't going to be in it.

"Of course, Mograine," Jerid passively replied, though he could not completely hide the irritation and anger he felt at his commanding officer. After all, Mograine had made Jerid watch as one of his friends was killed when had Mograine chosen they could have saved her life.

Sensing the wounded emotions of his comrade, Mograine set upon them smugly, "Are you still upset about...what was her name? Lila?"

Jerid balled his fists and steeled his voice better, hiding his resentment in the voice itself if not his heart, "There was nothing I could do. Now I must follow my orders so that I can take revenge for her."

"That's a good lad. Now go and deal with your recruits, Lieutenant. I expect a lot from you to make up for your past failures."

The mocking tone in his voice when he mentioned the recruits was lost upon Jerid at first, but when he was lead over to his team and shown what he would be working with he balked as Mograine left him behind with them, laughing all the while.

"This is it?" Jerid looked at the two women before him and gripped his fist, "You have to be kidding me."

Looking over papers given to him concerning their 'transfer', Jerid looked over his first recruit with some scorn. Semi-tall for a woman, she was build strong and not as lithe as one would generally expect from a ranged combatant, her gun in hand as the other pet the grey wolf by her side.

"Huntsman Radley, and your pet Bloodshot..." Jerid had to admit that on paper she was at least decent, even if she wasn't up to par with his own abilities or those of Kacricon, Lila, or Dirge by what the transfer papers indicated, "Not a poor record, but definitely not enough to defeat the brigands we're hunting."

Her brown hair messily set upon her head and only tamed by a red headband, Radley crossed her arms and scowled at her commander, "I'll prove my worth, as will Bloodshot."

Moving on to the next recruit, Jerid scoffed at the record he was looking at given that it held absolutely no combat in its entirety, "Lieutenant Marjhan, you are one of our rising diplomatic envoys. Why are you assigned to a combat mission?"

With soft features on her pale face which contrasted her raven hair, Marjhan smirked proudly with one hand on her hip as she stood in her pristine Scarlet Crusade uniform that had never seen a day of battle in its entire usage, "Lady Abbendis believed me capable enough to serve as a soldier, and so I shall in this time of great peril. This is not the time for diplomacy, but rather action, in what ways I can contribute."

Jerid snatched her wrists and tugged her hands up towards him so he could see them closer, "Let me look at your hands," upon touching and seeing their smoothness which belied a comfy life up until now, he tossed them down and criticized her brusquely over her inexperience, "Have you ever even taken a life? Have you even been in a battle before? Have you taken a life?"

Marjhan shrugged, not seeming to take this anywhere nearly as seriously as her superior officer, "No, but I don't believe I'll have to. There are others to do such bothersome work for me."

"Then why are you a soldier?" he snapped furiously, using his height to glare down at the recruit who until now had been hiding behind desks snobbishly while the rest of them fought their foes on the battlefield. Even Kacricon, a quartermaster, had participated in combat whenever he could, while this woman had completely eschewed it. While she may have just not gotten around to it yet, her lack of battle history so far was a severe detriment for this coming conflict...maybe their leader saw something in her, but at the moment Jerid could only see that he was stuck with a complete newbie who would likely drag them down and possibly get them killed.

"Just because I don't want to dirty my hands doesn't mean I cannot help. I can aid our forces in other ways, such as through tactical planning. I am too important to risk myself needlessly," she tried explaining to little effect.

Jerid balled a fist as he realized just how out of touch this subordinate was going to be, "If you won't kill them, they will kill you. It figures though that I would be given children who don't even know how to fight."

Radley piped up in defense of her partner, "I find your remarks inappropriate. We were chosen for this mission, and we will be able to handle ourselves just fine. To delve into such personal matters and to mock us is disappointing coming from a commanding officer."

Jerid shook his head in frustration, "We'll see about that. We will be fighting soon, so get ready. Follow my lead and stay out of my way."

Not wanting to deal with them anymore, Jerid strode away from the two and towards the main force. There he was stopped by the similarly tall and towering Avitus, who tapped him on the shoulder and gave him an amused smirk.

"How is your team looking, Lieutenant? They seemed pretty green coming in today."

"I don't have high hopes, but we will do what we can," Jerid had some more respect for this commander than Mograine, so he accepted the playful jab given that Avitus had just humiliated Mograine in front of everyone, "Do you think we will be able to defeat the Scourge and those Elves, sir?"

"With any luck, they will weaken one another, and when we arrive we will lay the coup de grâce. That is not all however," Avitus lowered his head as his smirk began to fade, "While I may disagree with such unsavory tactics, Lord Abbendis has tasked Benedictus with assassinating some key members of that school to begin the chaos we will use to our advantage."

Benedictus was one of the Crusade's most powerful members, and one of those who was said to serve the Grand Crusader directly, using the Crusade's most cunning members to enact assassinations of critical enemies. Still, in the years of the Crusade's existence Benedictus' effectiveness had diminished and they had few notable achievements in recent history, something which was common knowledge among the Crusaders themselves.

Jerid found himself finally smirking himself as he found that for once he wasn't the one being looked down upon, "Let's not get our hopes up. From what I've heard, he's beginning to slip in his skills. He might botch things and clue them in that we're coming."

"I would not worry about Voss or his men. If they fail, I will clean up their mess...and if those fools get in my way, they will be crushed beneath my boot for daring to impede our mission."

When Kael came downstairs after he and Trixie finally kissed one another, he did so without Trixie because the two had decided it best if they keep their relationship upgrade quiet for the time being (and thus would come downstairs one at a time rather than hanging off one another)...and if Trixie was told certain mammalian functions and had certain things explained by Vanessa, who was ironically far more knowledgeable on the subjects than her elder.

"Where are Trixie and Vanessa?" Lavitz asked the Elf who joined them for what was essentially lunch in the inn's lower floor.

Kael coughed as he tried to figure out how to explain this to the others without getting too much into the details, "Vanessa is explaining to her some important things she should already know."

That caught Lavitz's attention and made him even more curious, "Oh? What sort of things?"

"Things that should remain unknown to you and I."

Dirge, sitting across from Lavitz and besides Karl, laughed at Kael's attempt to deflect the subject, "I had forgotten how prudish some people could be. As if there is anything special or sacred about pleasure and fluids."

Karl nodded along with the other man's sentiment, "Is true."

Kael rose an eyebrow at their healer, now curious about what he meant, "Oh, so you know the secrets of the female persuasion?"

"A few. If you need any for use with your companion, just ask. Where I come from, such things are not hidden away from sight."

That was a bit too much for Kael, who was already flustered by the kiss he shared with Trixie earlier, "A loving Priest you are then, but thanks, I think I will be fine."

Lavitz shrugged his shoulders as he cracked a joke, "I wonder if there are any little Priests running around out there."

Dirge shrugged right back, not seeming to care about whether he had any bastard children or not, "I wouldn't know. I haven't been home in some time with past endeavors, and being with the Scarlet Crusade has limited the exploits I can get away with."

"I should have expected as much from men."

Everyone at the table looked up at the staircase to find Jaina crossing her arms and glaring down at them, seemingly judging them based on their conversation topic. Not about to take up the same tone as her, Kael tried to be civil.

"Good morning, Jaina."

Jaina stepped down from the staircase and moved to join them in sitting down for food when her path was swiftly blocked by Karl, who kept her from getting too close to Kael.

The intrusion on her personal space irritated Jaina, who used a thumb to point to where she hoped Karl would sit back down, "Cool your heels, doppelgangster. I'm not going to jump Kael now that his girlfriend is out of the room."

He didn't move as she wished he would, and so the blonde Human remained in her path to sitting down, instead pointing with a thumb of his own to another table entirely. Not about to let him tell her what to do, Jaina stood her ground and began a tense staring contest with the aloof SI-7 agent...for approximately three seconds before someone else piped up.

"What's the matter?"

Now on the staircase was Nana, who wanted to join everybody else but who was confused why things were so tense. She wasn't exactly great on personal interaction yet, but she could read a mood, and the mood was not particularly a happy one.

Lavitz beckoned Nana to come join them and so she did as he explained their present situation, "Big brother Kael was once in love with Jaina here, but now he loves big sister Trixie and we don't want his old love getting in the way of that."

Nana stopped besides Jaina, looked up at her for a moment, and then closed her eyes while smirking smugly, "Hah, no way big brother betrays big sister like that."

Jaina was glad that seemingly someone was taking her side and not worrying about her trying to steal Kael back, "See? Even the child knows better."

Her relief at getting backup in the form of a small Elven child was ruined when said child began to poke and prod at Jaina's boobs.

"Look at her breasts! Big sister Trixie's got much bigger boobs! No contest."

Jaina shoved her chest out of the way of Nana's intruding finger, the Mage's eyes shut in quiet anger as she spoke with barely restrained anger, "Kael, control this child or I will."

In response to this, Kael pulled said child down to be sitting beside him, preventing her from humiliating Jaina any more...to the chagrin of the others present, since Karl had been smirking, Dirge laughing, and Lavitz trying to withhold a smirk of his own, "Nana, you're not supposed to touch people like that."

The former Mana Wyrm tilted her head to the side as she looked up at Kael, one of her arms still reaching out towards Jaina, "Why?"

"Because they don't like it."

Nana began to pout, "But big sister Vanessa lets me sleep on her boobs and she doesn't mind."

Kael sighed even as the others save Jaina laughed, "Nana, that was when you were a Mana Wyrm. Now that you're an Elf things are different."

"But big sister Trixie lets you sleep on her boobs. I'm confused," Nana paused to think a moment as Kael's face ran as red as his clothing, "I mean, milk pillows feel nice so I know why you do it, but-"

"That's enough Nana. No more talking about or touching bodyparts today," Kael used a hand to cover her mouth as he blushed at her completely correct recounting of how he slept the night before, face in Trixie's chest and enjoying every moment of it. He quickly retracted his hand when Nana decided to lick his hand and the food bits that were on it.

"The child is certainly correct though, in that the bigger the better. Isn't that right, Aria?"

Now coming down to join them were the two women Tarkin had arrived with, Adagio and Aria, the orange woman and her purple counterpart. Adagio was sneering at Aria, who was glaring back in return.

Coming in behind them on the staircase was Trixie, who butted in on the conversation without social grace, "Ohhh, so you two are Lesliebens. Vanessa just told me about those."

Adagio glanced back to Trixie, still keeping the smug expression she had been giving Aria, "Half correct. Aria here sucks on my 'milk pillows' like a calf does its mother, but I also happen to like men."

Not a moment later than her saying 'men' was Adagio tumbling down the staircase thanks to a harsh shove by the woman standing beside her, Aria making no bones about showing her displeasure with Adagio airing their personal matters for everyone to hear.

As the rest of the room looked at the display, Aria took a defensive posture and leaned on the wall to her side, "What? She had that coming."

Trying to be helpful and still not understanding quite how much the two Sirens didn't like her, Trixie spoke up again, "Have you tried couple's counseling?"

Aria laughed as she stepped down the staircase and over Adagio, "As if I'd take advice from you. You wouldn't know a relationship if it struck you across the face, freaking tease," she tilted her head back and lifted a hand out of her pockets to flip Trixie a middle finger, "Oh, and because of you I spent years in Tartarus or whatever it's called, so you can fuck off."

Not about to allow everyone else to have all the fun of entering the scene, Tarkin entered from outside with a new spear seemingly crafted from the woods and from supplies taken from some unknown force within said forest. Putting it behind his back on a special sheath he also made for it, Tarkin wiped his hands off and spoke to Aria.

"Mind your language, Agent two," gesturing outside he then addressed the others, "Is everyone ready to depart for the diversionary mission?"

Trixie stepped over Adagio as well to come downstairs, Vanessa silently following behind her, and forcing Adagio to remain awkwardly sprawled out where she lay another few moments, "Of course we're ready. The Great and Powerful Trixie is always ready."

Kael sighed as his first real look at Trixie that morning instantly disproved her own claim, "Trixie, your cape is inside out."

Looking down in surprise, Trixie noticed he was correct and she tore it off to begin fixing said cape, "Bwahahahaha, that was merely a test!"

Jaina leaned in towards her old Elven boyfriend to whisper to him now that Karl was too busy watching everyone else to pay full attention to her, "Kael, where did you find her?"

Unlike the bemused Jaina, Kael was actually fond of Trixie's silly behavior, even if it embarrassed them on some occasions, "She's something, isn't she?"

"I almost feel insulted that this is your next relationship even if we haven't been together in years."

Not one for idle chatter, Tarkin prepared to head back outside again while turning his back on all the others, "We will depart in three minutes. If you are not ready by then, you will be dealt with accordingly, up to and including summary execution, so be quick. The longer we dally, the longer we place ourselves at undue risk."

The fearful expressions of Aria and Adagio clued everyone else in to the fact that Tarkin's threat was not just hot air, and so they quickly set about paying the innkeeper and grabbing as much food as they could so as to depart with the auburn haired man.

It was time for them to go to Scholomance and raise some hell.

An attempted assassination attempt against both Reuenthal and Mitter'meyer when they were out scouting the frontlines of the conflict in Outland was foiled when one of the two guards chosen among those who offered to join them went on a killing spree of the assassins sent by the Shattered Hand clan of Orcs led by Kargath.

It was with some surprise actually that Reuenthal and Mitter'meyer both stood back and watched as the blue haired Human used a cutlass to decapitate and impale Fel Orc after Fel Orc, cutting them down in a magnificent display of both skill and power. Three dozen Orcs slain in almost as many seconds, the blue and white clad woman taking no time to rest as she tore from one foe to another, sometimes stabbing and sometimes by throwing blades she seemed to summon from nowhere.

Less susceptible to such swordplay however was a demon known as a Pit Lord, which towered over them all and which had used a blood ritual to hide until just then: not that it hadn't been noticed earlier by Tristan, Reuenthal's pet bird which had revealed the ambush before it went off. Still, the Pit Lord had thought itself to still be concealed and so the massive demon shaped like an L with its extremely fat centaur-esque body lunged forth with a powerful glaive with a strike meant to slay the woman in one strike.

Instead when its blade buried into the ground she had been standing, the Pit Lord's fiery aura around its face seemed to recoil in shock as it realized she was standing atop it. A few powerful stabs by her as she flipped down off of the blade to avoid the followup strike all impacted the Pit Lord but did not damage it too greatly, melee combat being something of a specialty of their breed of Demon.

What did get its attention however was when the woman landed on a pool of Demon blood and lifted her own blade up into the air before reversing it and thrusting it through her own body. Mitter'meyer nearly gagged as he witnessed this woman rip out her own heart for seemingly no reason upon her sword, while Reuenthal took a step back in shock as well. They would have been capable of dealing with the ambush on their own, perhaps with some trouble, but they had been mesmerized by their comrade's talents up until this point and now were suddenly torn from their admiration as they witnessed their guard essentially commit suicide out of the blue.

It took a moment, but then the large pool of blood rippled and from it erupted a giant screeching beast with the helmet of a knight but the form of a monster. Its body was covered in armor, with a deep blue cape flowing behind the beast, but its lower body was that of a mermaid and sword shaped spikes formed from around its waist from which seemed to hang banners of some unknown designs.

This monster towered over the Pit Lord, already the size of a medium sized building on its own, and bore down upon it a large sword it seemed to summon from out of the air. The Pit Lord's surprise would be lethal for it as it was cleaved in two down the middle, its left and right halves beginning to fall down before the monster slashed again and again and again until only small pieces remained of the Demon by the time any of its upper body touched the dirt beneath it.

Their enemies finished, the monster disappeared back into the blood it had been summoned forth from, the heart used as bait to summon it forth returning to its owner's chest from the sword that had pierced it as if a miraculous event had just taken place and she had been healed of all physical wounds.

Turning around, Sayaka grinned at her stunned superiors, who had thought it would be a sign of goodwill to allow one of their Human allies to join them on the mission, not expecting her to actually prove to be the most dangerous of their entire team. Even the stoic Anavel who had come with them was stunned, and Sayaka seemed to be reveling in it, as if she had been intentionally showing off.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

Once she returned to all of them and had sheathed her sword, Mitter'meyer was the first to recover and congratulate his ally, "That was impressive swordwork and...whatever it is you did with that creature. I don't believe I have seen a lady as fearsome as you since Lady Windrunner years ago."

Reuenthal recovered as well with an ever-present smirk, "Hopefully Sylvanas is not the standard we use, given how she lost our homeland to the Scourge."

Mitter'meyer nudged Reuenthal playfully, "Don't mind my friend. He speaks his mind too much, even when it would be best if he didn't."

Sayaka put her arms up behind her head, nervously chuckling as her cape fluttered behind her, "Hehe, I don't mind. I tend to run mine off too actually, so it's no biggie. Always saying more than I should."

Still curious about what had just happened, Reuenthal spoke up again, "You are not the only Human aiding us, but I must say that I am surprised at your abilities. While the others require training, I dare say that you are among the strongest in our force. How was it that you came to join our cause?"

"I'm a fan of Trixie's, a big one you could say," Sayaka laughed as she tried to think of how to let the others know without saying too much as she had just accosted herself for, "I owe her a lot, but that's a whole 'nother story. Here she is living out a second chance at things, and so am I, thanks to her. We're not the only ones either."

This only served to further confuse Reuenthal, who pressed on further, "I fail to see what you mean."

"I guess for normal people it might come across as a bit odd..." Sayaka laughed as she began to explain, "You see, some people around here aren't supposed to actually be here is the way I can best say it. Think if you took the cast and characters of one book and put them into another book without actually removing the characters already in that one, if that makes sense."

Seeing their confusion told Sayaka that she really ought to begin telling more, so as to not leave them hanging.

"Thinking about it though, nothing about this makes sense, from a normal person's perspective. Why someone from another world entirely would be here, like Trixie, or why certain people not even native to Azeroth are here as if they always have been. Pretty weird, huh?"

Still giving her the floor to speak, Reuenthal and Mitter'meyer began to mull over her words very carefully. Seeing their minds doing the math and piecing things together, Sayaka continued forward.

"I mean, why would someone go to all the trouble of making a world full of specific individuals, if all she's gonna do is keep us here and keep Azeroth the same overall? You see, if this were the original Azeroth none of us would be here right now. Things are different, way different."

Mitter'meyer came up with his first hypothesis as he came to realize how a mere Human could cast such powerful magic and would speak in such an odd way, "Are you one of the Bronze Dragonflight, who protect time itself?"

"Something like that. Let's just say that if everything were as it should be, right now there'd just be a tyrant calling himself Kael'thas here in Outland. But now things are better because we are here to oppose him, so just because things are different doesn't mean they're worse."

Sayaka paused to turn around and face the site of her battle, the mangled bodies of red Fel Orcs strewn about along with their Demon ally.

"So, whoever changed things isn't tryna hurt us, and maybe this is a way for some people who didn't have anywhere else to be to do things right a second time around," she sighed as she brought her arms over her own body in a sort of self-hug, "Not a fairy tale happily ever after where we all get it easy, but a chance for everyone to try it all again and maybe do things right this time."

Reuenthal narrowed his eyes at what she was suggesting, "So someone influential or powerful enough has changed the very landscape of this world in terms of population."

"That's right. Question is, who would want things to change like this? And why? Start there, work backwards and..."

Sayaka grinned as she turned back, almost skipping to one side as a decapitated head of one Orc rolled by. With her words in mind, Reuenthal responded with speculation on his part.

"If someone has done such a thing, it would have to benefit them in some regard. But presently, the only ones better off now would have to be our own faction, for we have been benefiting at the cost of our enemies, and it sounds as if our army would not come to be in the original setting."

The fact that they were catching on as quickly as they were pleased Sayaka, who had worried that they would just dismiss what she was saying, "So you think the person who trapped us in here might actually be one of us, right?"

"If you know, then why withhold such information from us?" Mitter'meyer frowned as he came to be suspicious of this mysterious comrade of theirs.

"Because if I tell everyone that we have some secret god or goddess among our ranks, then don't you think that would ruin the whole play they've set up for us?" Sayaka scoffed as if that was as plain as day, "But if it is one of us, would it really be all that surprising? Remember how Kael was when we were at the Monastery? Remember how he was smiling when he was with everyone, when he was with Trixie? I'd reckon he's the happiest he's been in a long time, and I can say for certain it's better than Kael in the not-altered world."

With a sigh, Sayaka took a seat on a nearby rock. There was so much she could say, but figuring out what to actually say was the tricky part...

"I suppose I should come clean and explain a bit more, since you two are Kael's right hand men with his army. Each of us are here for our own purpose, though Trixie, Tarkin, Aria, Adagio, and I perhaps break that rule. But Karl? He's a stoic guy who in another universe lost his brother and went on a rampage to try and avenge him. Or what about a couple of the Crusaders they fought? Jerid was a jerk who lost everyone he came to love all to some young brat, who later went on to kill him," holding a finger up like a teacher, Sayaka continued her little lecture, "In normal Azeroth, they wouldn't be here. Some other random, inconsequential people would be in their place. But the one we're in is different, and someone made it that way."

After a brief pause, Sayaka sighed and hung her head.

"Is it really so bad though? I mean, having this second chance? I mean, if it makes people happy..."

Something she had said about herself, Trixie, and certain others had caught Reuenthal's attention, so he pressed that point, "What makes you different?"

Sayaka looked back up to smile at the half-Elf, "I'm still the same old me, not a new person born and raised here in Azeroth, even though I pretended like I was. I'm the stupid girl who made a wish to help someone else, to save others, who ended up crashing and burning."

Jumping up from the rock, Sayaka kicked the Orc head out of her way while giving a small laugh off.

"Death is so final, you know? People really don't know what they've got 'til they don't anymore. So I'm going to help Trixie have fun with hers, no matter how difficult it is, because its thanks to her that I'm still around at all."

There was an obvious answer to the entire situation, one which Mitter'meyer put forth, "Is it Lady Lulamoon, then? The one who..."

His voice trailing off led right into Sayaka laughing as she began to walk back towards their base, "If it is, somebody had probably best tell her. She's strong, but I don't really get 'god' vibes off of her."

As she began to depart she crossed paths with the other guard, Anavel, who she greeted with a joking salute.

"Hey, Gato!"

The odd name she called him confused the light haired Elf, "Gato?"

"Oh, right, here you don't have the last name," Sayaka chuckled as she corrected herself, "Anavel, how's it going? Things better working for the right team?"

The odd woman continued to walk on towards the base, with Anavel moving to stop her but pausing at the insistence of Reuenthal.

"Let her go. Either we have a deranged fool working with us, or an angel or demon has graced us with their presence and we had best watch ourselves."

Mitter'meyer looked up at his friend warmly, "Demons? Angels? The only demons here are the Burning Legion, and thankfully they are busy fighting others and haven't noticed us just yet."

"What do you make of what she said?"

"I am no fool, I did not miss out on the implication that neither she nor we belong where we presently are, but she has a point that so long as we are happy, so long as lord Kael'thas is better off than he would be, then why should we bother to care?"

Reuenthal nodded, "I agree. So long as we are to benefit, it does not matter who is pulling the strings. But when things change for the worse..."

Mitter'meyer tapped on his hammer and began to follow after Sayaka.

"Then we will have our words with whoever is to blame for how things are. Let us hope that never comes to be, however, shall we?"

"Darkmaster Gandling, it has come to our attention that the Scarlet Crusade has lost their monastery. Now may be a good time to strike..."

"Ras, now is not a good time. I am already dealing with a Crusader, if you cannot tell..." responded the man in charge of the school dedicated to necromancy and related arts in the name of the Scourge, made years before by the Lich Kel'Thuzad, "Apparently High Priest Benedictus of the Crusade sent his daughter to have me killed, likely as a result of their loss."

Bound by metal to a table like how one might set someone up to be tortured was a brown haired woman in the uniform of the Scarlet Crusade, albeit an altered set meant for stealth missions. Gandling ran a hand over her face as he admired what he saw as perfect material for a new Undead Scourge tool...for what was a living being but a future dead one?

"You will regret this, fool!"

Leaning down towards her, Gandling mocked her as she thrashed helplessly in her restraints, "Oh Lilian, you shouldn't be so angry! Why marr your beautiful face with such unnecessary wrinkles?"

"My father will have your heads!"

Gandling continued his inspection of his new toy, stepping over the dead bodies of her comrades he had slain during their foolish assassination attempt, "Oh I highly doubt that. In fact, when we're done here I am thinking you might be bringing me his..."

Wishing to remain on track, the Lich known as Ras spoke up again to his leader, "Darkmaster, do you think this one is a part of a larger offensive? What would they gain by just slaying a few of us when another could always take our place?"

"You may be right..." the Darkmaster didn't seem to really care despite the credibility of the idea, "But our scouts would let us know if they were headed our way, and we have heard nothing. By the time they are within striking distance we shall be ready for those foolish Crusaders."

Bringing his hand down to Lilian's chin, he chuckled as his mind went over just how he could best use her.

"But for now, my attention is on this newest...project of mine."

Lilian twisted and turned to try and get away from Gandling's touch, but her restraints rendered her unable to, "Don't you dare touch me!"

"Oh come now, assassin, what is a little science and experimentation with Undeath compared to you having come here to murder me?"

Snapping his fingers, he dismissed Ras and he went over to a cabinet to take out his favorite tools for dealing with live captives...they didn't remain that way for long, usually, but he did find her to be beautiful enough that perhaps he could make an exception.

"We're going to have some fun, you and I."

Author's Note

Kind of dark chapter admittedly, but it's a stepping stone for others down the road. Our villains, folks! The Crusaders in their backstabbing and brutality, and the messed up Scourge. Someone asked about Lilian awhile back and I think I said I wouldn't be able to use her, but I thought of a way of using her existing story to make a timeline adhering one.

Hope you enjoyed, and leave a comment to begin the New Year off strong! :raritywink: