As the light faded, Sunset's world spun. The arcane energy that the spell had required much more mana than she could safely offer and as such, she had to pay the price. As she lost control over her limbs and began to fall, Sunset could not be more grateful when Taretha had grabbed ahold of her, preventing a rather painful encounter with the ground.

Vaguely, she heard a gaggle of voices talking in the background. It would appear that Orys and Waryk were talking rather urgently with another person.

Tired... Need... Rest...

Sunset struggled to stay awake for a little while longer, before letting the darkness claim her.

Taretha! What was Taretha doing here?

There was no way that Thrall could have misheard that voice, no way that he would have took that face for another. The girl that had been so kind to him, who had helped him escape Blackmoore's clutches, who had been his friend as they lived their lives under the heel of Blackmoore... Thrall would recognize her anywhere.

"Thrall!" Hellscream's urgent voice snapped him out of his shock, and he turned to his fellow orc who met his eyes. "They're gone, it is an empty room." He snorted, "we should leave and see to the Horde."

Wordlessly, Thrall nodded his agreement and followed his friend away into the compound, ripping the makeshift barricade away, he confronted the surprised orcs on the other side of the door.

"There is no need to search the compound," he ordered, "find our people, grab what supplies you can find and leave. Spread the word to the others. Go!" The gathered orcs saluted in response, before scattering. As they left, Thrall and Hellscream quickly made their way out of the building, cutting down any humans too brave or stupid to bar their way instead of fleeing like their mage had done.

"Retreat!" It was then that they heard Orgrim Doomhammer's powerful voice roaring across the din of the battlefield, a cry that was soon echoed by his many captains as they began directing their brethren out of the compound. Joining their kin, Thrall and Hellscream joined the Horde as the massive group began pulling back from the Internment Camp.

Some of the humans gave chase, but the orcs were faster and could see better in the night. It did not take long for the battlegroup to scatter and outdistance their pursuers.

The agreed-upon meeting place was an ancient pile of standing stones. The night was dark, but orcish eyes did not need the moons’ illumination to see. By the time Thrall reached the site, dozens of orcs were huddled by the eight towering stones.

“Success!” cried a voice at Thrall’s right. He turned to see Doomhammer, his black plate armor shiny with what could only be spilled human blood. “Success! You are free, my brethren. You are free!”

The gathered throng cheered in response. A sound that filled Thrall's heart with joy, however, that joy was marred with confusion as Thrall recalled the face of the human girl that he had met not too long ago.

Taretha, what were you doing there?

"If you bear the news I think you do, Major, I'd be inclined to separate your ugly head from your body." Blackmoore growled.

"Then perhaps I should not speak." Major Waryk replied stiffly. Sunset admired the courage of the man to speak back to the most powerful man in Durnholde. She and the other high ranking members were gathered in the war room of Durnholde Keep, here to report on the defeat that they had suffered at the hands of the orcish Horde a week ago. When Sunset had regained her lucidity, she had learned that she had brought them to one of the nearer Internment Camps, rather than Durnholde. Not wanting to abandon their only mage, Major Waryk had delayed returning to Durnholde until she was well enough to travel. Refusing to delay their return trip any longer, the group made their way back to the Keep in a single day only to learn that the General had left on a hunting trip.

It had taken him two days to return.

She watched Blackmoore intently, seeing him glance at the bottle at his side for a bit before returning his gaze to the Major.

"Let me guess," Blackmoore drawled lazily, "There has been another uprising at one of the encampments. All of the orcs have escaped. No one knows where they are.”

"Would you still cut off my head if I confirm your suspicions?" Waryk asked tersely.

Blackmoore went red, probably because of the anger, Sunset noted. For a brief moment, the lazy general looked dangerous, his gaze filled with killing intent as he stared at the map on the table. Silence reigned in the room as the people in the room waited for the General's anger to subside.

"You may keep your head." Blackmoore finally declared. "But only because I have other tasks for you."

The general leaned back against his chair before grabbing ahold of the bottle next to him and downing a mouthful of the red liquid within. Sunset watched, keeping her disgust hidden behind neutral features, as the man wiped his mouth clean and looked at Captain Erik.

"Is it ready? This plan of yours?" The man demanded.

"Lady Shimmer has prepared all but two of the camps." Orys reported when the Captain gestured to him. "As soon as she is rested, we can move out and--"

"No need for that." Blackmoore waved his hand, cutting Orys off. "The ones you have managed will have to do." The General grinned, an ugly sight considering that his teeth were stained red by the wine. "Prepare your men, I will also have a group of Durnholde's finest accompany you. That will give you... a little over six hundred." He looked at Sunset, "you said you can handle that much, yes?"

"Yes." Sunset replied. "The rituals are well prepared to alarm me and transp--"

"I care not for how it works, only that it does." Blackmoore interjected rudely, dismissing her with a shooing gesture. Sunset gritted her teeth at the disrespect but kept her tongue. If only out of respect for Captain Erik, for surely the General would have him on a chopping block if Sunset said something out of line.

"Captain Langston will be leading this operation." Looking to Captain Erik, Blackmoore continued, "I will have you, Captain Erik and you, Captain Waryk, assist him in preparations. Once your mage had informed you of the orcs' attack, you will head to the camp using her magicks. You are then to defeat the orcs and capture their leaders. Is that understood?"

The now three captains saluted in response, muttering their affirmative to the General's orders. Sunset was surprised to see that the newly demoted Captain Waryk did not seemed unpleased with his new station.

"Good. Dismissed!"

Sunset was the first one out of the room, eager to be away from the General's presence. Bidding farewell to her companions, she began making her way towards her living quarters.

"Lady Shimmer! Please wait!"

Sunset turned, surprised to be hailed by none other than Captain Langston. The young man gave off a spoiled air,
and possessed a pretentious and self-centered disposition that Sunset was unfortunately familiar with.

"Captain Langston." She greeted, forced politeness keeping her voice neutral. "Is something the matter?"

"Something?" The man blinked owlishly before grinning in some foolishly found self-confidence. "Ah, I was hoping for some time with you. Blackmoore put me in charge of the operations, and I will need your help in the upcoming check for the battle plans."

Sunset took note of his confident smile, the absence of the other two captains and the all too eager eyes that were looking at certain places…

He's preening. Sunset realized. Sure enough, the Captain was puffing out his chest and giving his best, if comical, impression of a heroic soldier of the Alliance. The attempt was pathetic, painfully reminding Sunset of the days when she was still Celestia's student, when the nobles would attempt to please her in an effort to possess a connection to the princess.

They were no less pathetic than the man himself, though Sunset quickly recognized that somehow, the Captain was attracted to her.

Far from flattered, probably due to Captain Langston's disrespectful gaze, Sunset raised a hand in rejection. "I'm afraid that I'd be busy preparing for the upcoming battle," she replied frostily. "You can speak to Captain Erik if you need any assistance. I am sure that he can provide more assistance than me."

Clearly not expecting her to have rejected him, the Captain coughed into his hand. "Ah, no. I merely need some help in... the explanation, yes, of your means of transportation." Sunset smirked, not failing to notice the captain's bullshit. "Yes, as such, I will need you to accompany me to the great hall, that is where you will conduct your ritual, yes?"

"Correct, but as I have said, I will be busy for the time being." Sunset replied evenly, "furthermore, General Blackmoore seemed to have enough faith in my spellcasting arts. As such, you can be rest assured that my spellcasting will hold."

Sunset Shimmer watched as the man turned red with anger at her continued refusal to accompany him. Privately, she apologized to Captain Erik, as she had been looking continuously for an excuse to vent her frustrations on General Blackmoore, though his lackey would do for now.

He probably deserved it, considering that he was in such close proximity to what had happened to Taretha for the last few years...

"Now, listen here. You will join me, that's an order from the second-in-command of this kee-"

"What is going on here?"

"Captain?" Sunset's eyes widened in surprise as the Knight Captain Erik seemingly walked out from around the corner, followed by Captain Waryk and Orys. Sunset gave them a nod as Captain Langston spluttered himself into an awkward silence.

"Pardon the intrusion," the large man nodded at them, "but I can't help but hear heated voices coming from here." He glanced at his fellow captain, "is everything okay, Karramyn?"

Regaining his composure faster than Sunset had expected, Captain Langston straightened his back in an attempt to regain his dignity before muttering. "Nothing of consequence, Erik. I'd be going now."

Watching his fellow captain depart, Erik snorted and whispered to Sunset.

"I know you don't like him, but please don't torch our commanding officer before a large operation."

"Wouldn't be much of a loss," Sunset sniffed haughtily.

"Yeah, it won't." Orys agreed as he peered at Sunset, "he didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Now now, Orys, don't be going after him to defend Lady Shimmer's honor." Erik cautioned, "he may be a prude, but we still need him to help relay orders to the General himself."

"Understood, sir." Orys gave a mock salute, though Sunset could see that the man had his fingers crossed behind him. Unfortunately, the smirk on her face seemed to have given the sergeant away, seeing as Erik let out an exasperated sigh as he shook his head at the two of them.

"Cut them some slack, Erik." Waryk interjected dryly, "we couldn't stand him either. The boy looks like he had never seen a fight before."

"Aye, not that he should, at his age." Erik agreed as he turned towards her again, "nor you, if you don't mind me saying."

Sunset Shimmer shrugged but held her tongue wisely. Having worked with the man for a while, she had long gotten used to hearing Captain Erik's opinion on how a supposedly 'sixteen-year-old girl' should not be fighting for the Alliance at her age. It was an opinion that Sunset respected but vehemently disagreed with. Still, she respected the man, mostly because he seemed to look out for her from time to time.

Though he could have at least let her blast Langston down the length of the corridor just once during their stay.

Since they were together already, the group carried on their conversation as they made their way to their issued quarters, idly chatting about current events that they had recently heard about.

“Frankly speaking, I couldn't care less about my demotion,” Waryk remarked nonchalantly when Sunset broached him on the subject. “While my rank had changed, I am still in command of my troops and there is truthfully no reason in me remaining a major now that my camp has been overrun by the greenskins.”

“Still, it was undeserved.” Erik chipped in. “From the reports and what I could tell from my men, not even the General himself could have held that camp against such a force.” His eyes light up sudden as a thought occurred to him, "though, speaking of the general,” Captain Erik commented as he rounded a corner, directing the topic at Sunset "I heard you have recently gotten pretty close with Blackmoore's mistress."

"... Somewhat, I suppose." Sunset mumbled as she looked away.

"Mmmmmh..." He mused, "Don't tell anyone I said this but... she seems a little young, doesn't she? That Taretha? To be the General's mistress?"

Sunset made no comment, her thoughts already turning down a darker path as she recalled a certain event that had occurred over the past week. It had been a couple of days after the battle against the orcs. While she had woken up, her movements were still a little sluggish and she had needed some manner of assistance with some basic activities.

Taretha had been kind enough to volunteer to help her and had been in charge of helping her with basic activities that she would rather not disclose. However, it was after one of those activities when she had finally approached the other girl on a topic that had been on her mind since she had awoken.

"You knew that orc." Sunset rasped after the other girl had helped with wiping down her body. Sunset watched the other girl freeze briefly, but quickly regained her composure. "Don't worry, I have cast a silencing spell around us, no one will hear."

"Yes..." After a while, Taretha replied so softly that Sunset had to strain her ears to listen. "He is... my brother."

"Brother?" Sunset asked before devolving into a coughing fit. Waving the other girl's concern away, she continued, "he's a half-orc?" There had been numerous recorded cases of half-breeds, like the one who had assassinated King Varian's father long ago.

"No," said Taretha as she began folding the dirty cloth for storage. Sunset could tell that the girl was hesitating, clearly unwilling to expose any more information. Sighing, she snapped her fingers, gaining her companion's attention.

"No need to tell me," Sunset decided. The other girl had been bearable, hardly a nuisance and definitely an intellectual in her own right. In many ways, Taretha reminded her of Jaina, just without the strong will. Sunset could still respect that though. Besides, they were not that close yet and considering the fact that Blackmoore's mistress had an orc so close to her heart...

Sunset would be lying if she said that the thought did not amuse her to some extent.

Taretha looked surprised at her decision, but nodded gratefully at the redhead. Sunset accepted the gratitude with as much grace as she could, but when something caught her eye, her hand shot out and grabbed ahold of Taretha's arm.

"Sunset?"

Sunset deigned not to respond, merely quickly rolling up the sleeves. Her eyes widened at the dark welts on Taretha's forearm. Bluish-blackish bruises were not something that she had expected to see on someone that she expected to live a comfortable life.

"How did you get hurt?" Sunset asked, suspicion rising. She was no healer, but she could tell that these were not recent, some of them were already healing, meaning that they were not injuries gotten from the most recent conflict. And considering that she had not been in charge of any heavy-lifting on the trip...

Sunset liked to think that she was a smart girl. As such, she was very confident that she knew just who would be responsible for these wounds…

"I suppose that she is," Sunset replied finally to the captain before shrugging, giving off the air of someone who could not care. "But what can we do about it?"

It was a bold-faced lie and Sunset did care, but not because of Taretha. She had only known the girl for two months and while she would admit that she could tolerate her more than others, they were not yet close enough for Sunset to justify helping her out for any altruistic or heroic notion.

No, Sunset cared because General Blackmoore was scum, worth even less than the earth that he walked on. Sunset knew that she would take great vindictive pleasure in plotting the downfall of the worthless man. Taretha and the rest of Durnholde might even benefit from it.

But it would have to wait for now. Sunset thought. With a battle against the orcs fast approaching, any scheme she would devise for the general's downfall would have to wait. Sunset thought back to the jagged lightning that had split her flame spell, to the memory of a black armoured orc who she knew she had been ill-equipped to face, knowing that were she to survive the next battle, she would need to prepare for it.

Extensively.

General Blackmoore scowled as he downed another glass of wine, his loyal manservant, Tammis Foxton, looking on anxiously at him. Not that anyone could rightly blame him. Blackmoore was known for his foul temper, especially when he was drunk, wherein he would become extremely violent.

And nowadays, Blackmoore had more reasons to be angry, drunk and violent. Unjustifiable reasons, sure, but as the General of Durnholde Keep, who could stop him?

Not one lowly manservant who had whored out his wife to feed an orcish child and given his only daughter to please his lord, that's for sure.

"Bah," Blackmoore growled as the glass ran dry. Glaring at it, he thrust out the offending item at Tammis Foxton who started at the sudden gesture. "More wine!" He snarled.

The man quickly scrambled up to him, decanter in hand, unfortunately, only a pathetic amount trickled out.

"My a-apologies, milord." Tammis stammered, "it's empty."

"What do you mean it's empty?" Blackmoore growled.

"There's no more wine," the man replied, holding out the decanter as if to prove a point.

Blackmoore's features darkened. A stupid man with a traitorous daughter. "Is that what empty means?" He asked, his voice eerily silky smooth, causing his servant's face to go deathly pale. Years of dealing with him had taught Foxton that this was merely the calm before the storm.

"GET MORE!" Blackmoore roared, hurling the glass. Thankfully, his aim was unsteady, causing the glass the miss the fleeing manservant and shattering against the wall. Heaving from the sudden exertion, Blackmoore brought an arm down on his seat's armrest in frustration.

"Useless buffoons." Blackmoore growled. "Can't even find one stupid Thrall." Still, all was not lost. It was all but confirmed, Thrall was indeed leading the horde, just as Blackmoore had wanted. Now, all that remained was to find him and remind him who his master was.

His plan had been a success too. Waryk’s reports had indicated that the mage Sunset had clashed with Thrall. The fight had gone poorly, which was definitely a shame, but blood had been scented in the water. The next fight would not go well for the orcs, Blackmoore had seen the magi of Dalaran in action before and knew how dangerous they could be when they had time to prepare.

The next fight would definitely go poorly for the orcs, and with any proper amount of luck, they would break the Horde and capture his little runaway slave.

A pity that Taretha would be useless in that regard. Blackmoore mused, he counted on the orc's attachment to the girl, knowing that Thrall would come running to save that little traitor.

"I should kill her." Blackmoore muttered.

Yes, that was a good idea, if the plan that stupid captain and mage proposed have failed to bring in his pet. Perhaps her death would get Thrall to come to him. Blackmoore smiled at the thought, an ugly sight to behold as he released a chuckle.

Perhaps that little minx had a use after all.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait. I just got a new job but as I was in need of money, I had to do quite abit of overtime, which led to having less time to edit this chapter, mostly none at all.

Next chapter will also take quite awhile, since I am still in OT hell(need to pay those bills) and I am also rewriting the next couple chapters since I felt that some developments were a little bit too fast.

Anyways, once again, sorry for the late show and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter!

Sincerely,
Riposte