The breeze was cool as I climbed from plateau to plateau up the mountain. Nagrand was a beautiful area that had brown cliffs topped with green hills. Water was plentiful and cut through the winding crags. The way up was tricky, but it was a path that I had taken many times so I could have probably done it blindfolded and backwards. This would probably be the last time I’d walk this path. I paused in my climb to let an earth elemental rumble by recalling the time when I had accidentally used parts of a sleeping elemental for a fire pit.
Smiling at the memory of the argument that had happened after the brush fire had been put out, I pulled myself up to the biggest plateau on the mountain that had been my home and training ground. The hut was gone and nature had already reclaimed the garden. The only things that were the same now as in my memory were the tree and the small waterfall. The tree had survived, and the sound of the waterfall took me back…
I wouldn’t have wished this heat on anyone, friend or foe.
“Argh!” I yelled. “Shar! Why couldn’t you have lived in Terokkar?”
“Bah.” The old, white haired orc replied to the old grievance. “If youth wasn’t so hot headed the wind would cool you down.”
Working in the garden is hot work. The hut wasn't tall enough for the shade; neither were the trees that we planted in order to replace the wood we used to build it.
“Master is so mean!” I complained, failing to hide the obvious smirk. “This is divine punishment.”
“I agree.” She responded, “I do not know what I did to warrant the spirits punishing me so.”
I covered my chest with both hands and stomped my hoof. The sound cracked like the thump of arrow hitting its target, “Such pain I have caused to my gentle master! I must make amends right away to placate the spirits. Master, allow me to refresh you to save you from this heat.”
I quickly and quietly called to the earth and smiled as a sphere of water formed before me. I called on my newly mastered skill of temperature manipulation and sent a wave of cold air through the floating sphere of water. Not only did it turn the water into a snowball but the force hurled the sphere of freezing, wetness right at Shar’s head. The snowball melted then evaporated, right before the snowball reached her face.
“Crap.” I said and ran for cover. The battle was fierce but quick. I was rapidly soaked, but I got a few hits on the white haired orc. Being younger, and having hooves, it made moving around on the side of a mountain easy. Shar’s control was perfect and her eyes were still sharp, considering she her age.
“I yield!” I yelled as the final dry spot, my horns, were hit.
“Ah, Vilenni. Swimming would have been a much quicker way of cooling down.” Then she got all serious on me. “Your defense needs work; you could have steamed some of those that hit your torso and head, but your attacks were dead on.” She patted my shoulder in approval and then shoved snow down my tunic. “That is for stepping on the plants.”
As I danced around said plants to shake the snow out of my tunic without it slithering down into my pants, Shar had maneuvered back to the garden to investigate the damage. “After you're done dancing, my bipedal talbuk, you'll need to gather some wild dreaming glory.” I gave up trying to rid of the snow, mostly because gravity had already succeeded when my master had failed, looking up in confusion.
“We could use more since you seemed to have squished mine.” She held up one of the ruined plants.
“Right away, Master.” I turned to do her bidding. She must have heard the capital M in master because a snowball hit me in the back of the head and knocked me into the waterfall. As I fell, I sent an answering shot in her direction. To my horror, the temperature was off. Instead of a snowball, an iceball went sailing in her direction. She didn’t notice the difference until the freezing water hit her face. I’m guessing that profanity and/or return shots tried to follow me on my errand, but I got out of her out of sight and range.
Life was good.
As I was searching for the elusive plant, I ran through the list of recipes that called for dreaming glory. Health and mana potions were good to have while training, even better if one potion did both. Maybe a sleeping tonic or a protection potion? My mind was busy running through the vast knowledge Shar had shoved into my brain, and my body was busy climbing. I didn’t notice the visitors until one jumped me. If he had been a snake he would have bitten me. The axe barely missed and my training kicked in. As he came towards me I called up three orbs around me and shocked him with a blast of frost to slow him down so I could bound up the ledge for height advantage. I channeled a lightning bolt and targeted my attacker yelling out warning in orcish. My attacker stopped at my voice and looked around bewildered.
After the axe, the first thing I noticed was that his color was wrong. Instead of being a warm brown color, he was the color of dried mud.
“Are you okay?” I asked in my best authoritative voice, my accented obvious because it wasn’t my first or best language.
Ice was dripping off him, he blinked and looked up at me. I slid down and let the lightning bolt go. I don’t know how he could even be standing. He was sweating and shaking, and when I approached him the blood drained down his face like a waterfall. He started to fall to his knees and, without thought, I jumped to catch him. The only reason the axe missed me was because he was falling forward as stepped into his arms. I let him finish his fall as well as knocking the axe out of his hands. After I laid him down a talbuk with an unconscious orc tied to its back came into view.
“Hey there,” I said softly, trying not to panic the creature. Apparently sooth beast wasn’t in my book of spells because he wouldn’t let me near him. The hoofed creature cavorted away when I tried to untie its burden, charging at me whenever I was near the orc on the ground.
I was at a loss. They defiantly needed help, but I couldn’t catch the mount. I backed off so the talbuk would stop jarring the person on his back and not step on the one under his hooves.
“Shar could have handled this.” I thought to myself, sulkily. “Oh no…the plants!” I cried. . This made the talbuk jump so much that the rider was now leaning at an uncomfortable angle.
Moving quietly as possible I walked away from the tree and jumped from ledge to ledge looking for my basket of herbs. The basket was crushed at the bottom of the mountain, being ravaged by a baby clefthoof.
The horned creature was around somewhere. He could feel it. He tried to remember where the axe fell but the more he tried to look for it the more tired he got. A voice came reached him, “Stand down, warrior.” He knew an authoritative voice when he heard one. “Drink.” It commanded. He thanked the spirits and embraced the darkness.
“I have to say, student, your laziness makes for interesting ideas.” Shar commented as she walked in front of me. I was now leading the earth elemental up the cliff towards our hut.
“You say lazy, I say smart. He almost got me twice!” He had found the axe and when I returned with Shar he had taken another swing at me. I patted one of the elemental’s rocks as it floated by. “We have willing help, and axes don’t have the same impact on them.”
The rock elementals roamed at the base of our mountain, and after asking permission, their help was granted. Shar had calmed the talbuk (she claimed she had practice with the stubbornness of the breed) and gotten sick ones away. Shar checked the them out and declared that they needed to get to the hut. She couldn’t raise the orcs on the talbuk herself and the silly thing still wouldn’t let me near it, hence the rocky helpers. The talbuk followed dashed to take snaps at me…stupid animal.
The two orcs took up most of the room in the hut, and because the mud colored orc got agitated when I was in the room I was banished from my house. I got to wait by the door and play runner for Shar as she dealt with the red boils that grew out of the skin that cried red and clear fluid. The worst part was the vomiting blood. The baskets couldn’t support the heavy fluids and broke. Shar eventually came out of the hut she after working through the afternoon and well into the night. She was covered in all kinds of nasty, and she looked much older. I handed her a cup of water and steered her to the tree to rest.
“They are very dehydrated, and have a high temperature.” She sighed, “They are resting comfortably now, but I’m not sure what’s causing it. Friction from movement makes the boils rise and they vomit blood. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“You should rest, Shar. I’ll keep watch and wake you if something changes.”
Shar nodded tiredly, and launched into directions, “It’s very important that they aren’t disturbed in anyway. They need to focus on recovering if they are going to live.”
“That’s a lot of work for one person…you’re not as young as you use to be.” I pointed out.
She chuckled a little and countered with, “You’ll have to take over all the outside work as well as being a runner for me. All I have to do is sit in a chair and watch people spew blood.”
I cringed at the brutality of her statement, and the amount of work she was placing on me, though that wasn’t my major concern. “You can’t fool me, old woman. If you take this all on yourself you are going to make yourself sick. Why can’t you just heal them and send them on their way?”
“Magic can seal flesh, mend bone, and remove poison, but whatever this sickness is, magic cannot cure it.” She smiled and sent a bright chain of yellow light into the hut that hit both sleeping bodies. “That soothes their muscles, and gives them strength to fight but it cannot get rid of whatever is making them sick.”
I frowned, and splashed Shar with the small heal that she had first taught me. She smiled and said, “Don’t worry about me getting sick because as soon as your axe wielding friend’s fever breaks you get to take over the nursing.”
“As long as you get the axe away from him, I would be happy to.”
Shar sniggered all the way back to the hut, while I turned my attention to the massive amount of chores that awaited me.
The intense heat had lessened overnight. They still had temperatures, and the abscess still grew from their skin. Shar was worried. She had doused the two with the dreamless sleep potion that would make them rest. She had plenty of nightmare vine but she had no more dreaming glory. She couldn’t leave the two alone, and Vilenni could not watch them until Shar could figure out why he kept attacking her student. She could send Vilenni into town, but the hostility towards Draenei was growing. Shar didn’t know the reason for the growing hatred for such peaceful people, but she wanted Vilenni to keep clear of this blind hatred. She was quick, bright, and would make a powerful shaman but like many of her kind, she was horribly naïve and quick to temper.
“Master!” Vilenni shouted, startling Shar from her reflections.
The axe wielding orc stirred under the potions effects at the call. The rider was recovering much quicker than his angry counterpart. Shar was tired. Even with Vilenni taking care of all the chores this disease took its toll on the people nursing as well as the ones infected. She had finally decided to take an apprentice when she discovered she could no longer monitor patients all night. Vilenni had been a run away when Shar found her. Vilenni had been trying to live alone on the mountains between Terokkar and Nagrand. Between her inexperience and the hostile ogres and arakkoa, she was near dead when Shar found her. Shar had taken her in and healed her, surprised to discover that the girl not only showed interest in the ways of the elements but had the talent for it as well. Shar kept the training to herbs and survival training, as a test. It didn’t take long for the old shaman to discover what a unique being she had stumbled onto. Slowly the old orc’s respect for the young draenei grew. Vilenni did as she was asked…after she learned more orcish of course…and was quick when it came to retaining recipes. She had a rascally sense of humor and was loyal to a fault. When Shar brought up the idea of Vilenni learning the ways of the elements, she quickly agreed. Teaching brought joy to the old orc’s life and the elements embraced the young draenei as she embraced the elements, quickly learning the ways of shamanism.
Shar sighed and boosted herself out of her chair. Vilenni knew about the effect she had on the patient, and only called her “master” if something was wrong or in jest. As she stumbled wearily out of their home she summoned a water shield and positioned it behind her back. On the off chance it was a prank, she owed Vilenni one for the ice ball earlier.
“Not good, not good, not good…” was my mantra as I climbed the mountain. “Master!” I called out, then fell to the ground under the tree.
“I wish…I could run like wolves do,” deep breath, “I’ve heard they can run…for hours…” another deep breath.
“Stop wasting your breath and tell me what’s wrong.” Shar said sharply. I winced at her tone, but it was tempered by the cool breeze that came from her, and the cup of water she held out to me.
“Thanks.” I took a sip, then launched into my story.
“I was watering the garden when that thick-headed, stubborn, smelly beast took off down the mountain. I figured no biggie, I can climb just as well if, not as fast, as the animal.”
Shar wasn’t laughing but I could see the smile hiding behind her eyes as she waited for me to continue.
“The light forsaken brute lead me on a chase across the mountains all the way to the fields of Oshu’gun. I managed to catch him but lost him when I felt the earth cry out. Some ocrs gathered, and it’s not the right time for the Kosh'harg celebrations, so I watched. Wrongness. When they spotted me they were seemed surprised, and did not return my greetings. I don’t know if they didn’t understand me or if they were too shocked. I felt the Earth cry, Master and I…ran.”
“Did you bring the beast back?” Shar asked to my surprise.
“Uh…no…” I muttered. I was in deep clefthoof droppings if I over reacted. I don’t think I could have imagined the feeling of dread that came from the. My fear and confusion must have shown on my face because Shar patted my shoulder. Of all of the reactions I expected from her, calm acceptance wasn’t one of them.
“You draenei are so suspicious. Oshu’gun is a place to commune with the sprits. All are welcome.”
“They didn’t seem welcoming to me.” I groused.
“Some might consider my training you, an invader to our world, as suspicious as you were of the orcs today.”
What she said made sense, so I nodded but still felt uneasy. I winced, I was going to get reprimanded for this…probably by having to chase the talbuk again.
“Our guests’ fevers have gone down. After I’ve had a chat with them, you’re going to stay and watch them while I stretch my legs bringing back the talbuk.”
Great…punished by possible death and dismemberment…gathering clefthoof poop for the garden was looking rreeaalllllyyyy good right about now.
The first thing he noticed was the heat rolling around in his head had lessened. He felt ten times better than he could remember being. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed, and he panicked until he saw his little brother on the pallet on the other side of the room. He looked much better than he had when they had left the village in search of help. None of the healers he had taken his brother to could cure him. He had had to tie him to their mount to get away from the physician. The healer had wanted to cut open his body to correct the wrongness. He had calmly thanked them, picked up his axe, and set out in search of the rumored hermit shaman that lived in the mountains in the west.
They wouldn’t be missed. Sons of peons were nothing more than peons. They were nobodies, with no family name or armor. The axe they shared was something he had found and fixed so they would not be unarmed while traveling. It was ugly, and probably the worst balanced weapon in the history of the world, but they treasured it.
“No moving.” said the same stern voice that had called him a warrior. He stopped moving and locked eyes with the elderly female in the entrance.
“You both are very ill. I don’t know what it is, but from what I’ve seen the more you move the worse it gets.
“Is my brother ok?” he asked, surprised at his voice.
“He’s in much better condition than you are.” the matriarch said.
“I’m less stubborn.” came from the dark corner.
“You don’t need to worry. As long as you rest and focus on recuperating we will make sure you both will have many years to taunt each other.”
“We?” he asked.
The old one motioned to someone standing outside the hut and a horned creature entered. He threw himself out of the bed in a haze of furry. He felt something splash over his body, then he stopped cold.
“Better than knocking him unconscious, I suppose.” the old orc said.
“Thanks.” the creature replied.
“Idiot.” said his brother said to him.
I could see him straining against the ice I had encased him in. It wasn’t good for him to be doing this and freezing him had been what Shar would have called a “knee jerk” reaction. His eyes held hatred and a dash of fear, fear was unusual for orcs.
“This is not good for your condition.” I said as calmly as I could. “If you promise not to try and cut my head off again, I will release you.”
He said something in orcish that I didn’t understand and beside me Shar stiffened. Then she launched into a tirade so fast that I couldn’t follow. Judging her body language and tone I could tell he was getting such a dressing down that I had not seen since I accidentally scorched the hut while practicing fire. While she was berating him I used that fire skill that I had mastered to slowly melt the ice I had entrapped him in. No matter the danger to me, being sick and cold was bad. I didn’t want to undo all of the work Shar had put into saving his life.
“Now young warrior” Shar said slower (thank the light) “You came here to get better, and to do that you have to do as say or you will not recover. I have to go to Oshu’gun to retrieve your playful mount. Vilenni will be here watching you and your brother till I return. You will honor Vilenni as any healer you would trust with your life, for it very well might. She has every right and my permission to restrain you in whatever way she deems necessary for your health or her safety.”
I grinned…Cool…
Shar said nothing else and walked out.
I took the axe out of the ice sculpture’s hands and went to place it outside. When both orcs growled, I placed the axe against the wall between their beds.
“Okay.” I said to cover my discomfort and fill the silence, “Let’s get you back into bed.” I told the ice man standing with his arm over his head.
“If you would care to unfreeze me” he said sharply.
“You should be able to break what’s left of the ice…your clothes should be dry now as well.” I responded with honey in my voice.
He looked surprised and relaxed his arms. I caught him as he fell as well as the water. I sent the water to the garden and moved the now dry orc to sit on the pallet. I was showing off a bit, but power and respect were tied together in the orc community. I hated societal games, but these two were strangers and capable of doing some serious damage if they put their minds to it…and didn’t want to recover.
“Thank you.” the axe wielder said as he pulled his legs back onto the pallet.
I picked up the basket I had brought water in and refilled it using my water spheres. I wasn’t showing off anymore but they looked thirsty and I didn’t want to leave them alone to visit the river. I filled two cups and heated the water to make tea. The younger brother was in Shar’s bed and my attacker was in mine. I checked on the younger brother to distance myself from my frequent attacker. He gave me a small smile and accepted the cup of cool water I offered while the tea seeped. I turned at a noise. The older apparently did not like me near his brother and had sat up in bed.
“It’s just water to hydrate him till the tea is ready.” I told the angry mud colored orc. “Would you like some?” You could see the difference between the two. The restless older brother had more boils and they were bigger than quiet one.
He blinked both eyes then held them shut. “Yes.” He croaked, followed by a boil popping and running down his neck. As the watery blood ran down his skin, every boil it touched popped. I dropped the cup and pulled strength from the ground sending it into his body. The oozing slowed and he fell back onto the bed. Now I had a bigger mess to clean up.
He seemed to be out cold. Now that he was motionless the boils stopped busting, but he had lost a lot of fluids. I moved to pick up the cup and was met with pain and blackness.
“Wake up!” his brother’s voice called. The heat was still with him but he answered his brother’s call.
“About time!” he grumbled, “Need to stop bleeding.” And motioned to the floor.
He couldn’t make out what was on the floor. It looked like the creature that had haunted his fevered dreams. Except her hair was white instead of black and her skin was deep blue instead of red. A stream of blue liquid was seeping out from her head, and pooling a bit on the floor.
“What happened?” he asked his younger brother.
“Bending over you to give you some water. You cracked her in the head with the axe. Lucky you sick and angle bad, or death.”
“I don’t remember doing that…”
“Doesn’t matter. Help get her in bed.” He said urgently.
The two sick orcs managed to get her on the bed and bandaged her head to slow the bleeding. He had almost tripped over the axe while the three clumsily maneuvered around the room. They also knocked over a pile of bandages into the water she dropped. They stumbled over the bandages and water soon made a muddy mess of the whole hut.
He turned to his little brother’s annoying giggle.
“What?” he asked sharply.
“The old orc is going to be mad when she gets back. I can’t wait to hear what she calls you this time.”
They slumped down in the vacant bed. “If she wakes up, I’ll be glad to take the verbal barrage from the old one.” He responded, closing his eyes.
“You hear that?” his brother asked. “Water nearby. Should get some while I can… don’t know how long the old one will be gone.”
“No.” said a voice from the bed.
Both brothers jumped and looked at each other, then at her. He skin was sky blue, and hair was still wet with a blueish-purple blood, but her eyes were open.
Wow…did my head hurt. I felt the need to get up but when the nausea set in I never wanted to move again. I panicked when I heard a voice saying they were going for water.
“No.” I said, knowing it was a bad idea. I opened my eyes and the room spun and almost pitched me onto the floor.
“Don’t move,” said the angry voice, though not so angry now. “You took a nasty blow to the head.”
“That must be why the room is upside-down and spinning.” I answered slowly. “No worries.” I heard my own voice slurring; I must have been hit hard. “I can heal this.”
The orcs were quiet as I centered myself then slowly and carefully moved from horizontal to vertical. Before hooves touched ground I had to fight through the spinning head and the need to vomit. As I pulled energy from the ground it cut through the mental fog and nausea. With a cleared head I could cast the spell that stopped the bleeding, closed the wound, and stopped the pain.
“All right,” I told the orcs, standing up “You two can share that bed till I get this cleaned up. I don’t know when Shar will be back, but I don’t what her seeing this.” I waved to encompass not only the mess but all of the events that had taken place.
The brothers seemed shocked at my recovery and did as I suggested. I removed the earth from the beds, bandages, and people settled the dirt back onto the floor. Then I drew the moisture out of the ground and the dressings and set it in the bowl on the ground. The blood and other fluids I burnt and then drove the fumes out of the open hut. By this time the water I had removed was boiling by this time so I could wash the bandages. Out of the earth popped a clay bowl that I filled with cool water for the brothers to drink. Everything was clean, or headed that way, and no one had died. Other than the head ache and exhaustion, not a bad day.
I sighed and sat in Shar’s chair. The meekest voice I have ever heard from and orc asked, “Can I move back to the other bead now, Healer?”
“By the light!” I swore, they must be vastly uncomfortable. “Yes!”
I got up and helped the quiet younger brother back into Shar’s bed. Mine needed to be cleaned after having two sweaty and sick male orcs in it. I did not want to get within reaching distance of the older deadly brother…that had attacked me…more than once...
His color had changed again. Instead of mud it was the color of diarrhea. Shar was gonna kill me! He was bigger than his brother, and I didn’t want to be wrapped around him carrying him if he tried to attack me again. With all the moving around and attempted murder, I don’t think he felt any better.
“Ok…” I paused, “What are your names anyway?”
The question was answered with silence. “I have to call you something…hey you isn’t good enough.” More silence.
“Alright then, since you won’t answer I’ll give you names.”
“Rakkan” I said pointing to my attacker, and to his brother I said “Revola.” Deadly and Silent in draeneic. Languages are fun.
“We are not pets” said Rakkan in a hoarse whisper.
“Rakkan, you’re not going to get better if you fight me all the time.” I said, a little smug.
“I like.” came from Revola.
“Now that that’s settled, Rakkan I need to clean that bed. I can’t lift you but I can clean the bed like I cleaned the room but only if you are comfortable with it .” I took a deep breath and admitted, “Honestly I don’t want to get near you again. It’ll feel strange, but no harm will come to you. It’s your choice.”
He could see she was tired. She wasn’t as pale as before but she was swaying with weariness. She had cleaned the mess that they had made, but not herself. Other than her hands, which had handled the re-cleaned bandages, she was covered with dirt and blood. She looked as if she’d fall over if she took a deep breath, let alone cast another spell. He wasn’t sure which would be worse for her in this condition, manual labor or magic so he made his own.
He just pushed himself onto the floor. Sores busted open at the impact and my stomach clenched at the smell. That had to hurt.
“You idiot!” I yelled, “Not only did you make another mess, but you probably undid all the healing Shar did during the day!”
“Feels good.” Rakkan said.
“Is he always this stupid, Revola?”
He nodded, “Stubborn.”
“Great.” I set about cleaning the bed while Rakkan seemingly slept on the floor. I repeated the cleaning process a little slower because I was tired, but it was fresh and clean in a much shorter time than hand washing would have taken. He didn’t move and seemed to be less agitated. His breathing was deeper and his color was a little better. I might have been seeing things due to the lack of sleep. I didn’t want to get within striking distance, but he needed to get back into bed.
“Alright Rakkan. Can you make it back into bed?”
He had pillowed his arm under his head and seemed to have snuggled into the ground. (An orc snuggling was definitely something I never thought I’d see.) I gathered my last bit of will to me and cast it into the ground. Slowly the ground lifted him up parallel to the bed. Panting with effort of holding a full grown orc with nothing but my will and dirt, I moved over to the bed and carefully rolled him onto it. I took great care not to burst anymore boils and was watching him for any sudden movements. As soon as his weight was mostly on the bed I released the earth with heartfelt sigh. Revola watched in fascination. I backed against the wall and slid down to sit on the hut floor. The chair was too much effort, and I closed my eyes.
“Sleeping there?” asked Revola.
“No. I won’t sleep till Shar gets back” I shifted to look at the smaller orc. “Rest.” I said strangely calm after such a crazy day. Yay shock.
They were either comforted by my words or they were too tired to stay awake longer because they drifted off into a fever free sleep.
Shar had caught the escaped mount with no problems. The silly beast had just walked up to her with no fuss. For all Vilenni looked like a bipedal talbuk she had no rapport with the creatures. Having caught the beast Shar decided to check out Oshu’gun. She could ride there and back in no time. Pointing the beast south she gave him full reign and they took off towards Oshu’gun.
Shar was surprised to discover that there was an ominous feeling pulsing through the Oshu’gun field. The normal herds of clefthoof, elekks, and talbuk were gone. There were orcs here gathered around the entrance into Oshu’gun. The earth spoke of intruders and called for help. Her mount balked and reared. Shar patted the spooked creature and considered. This wrongness needed to be reported to the Warchief. He was a strong shaman and would know how to counter this. Best to get all the information she could before making her way to Sunspring Post. She hailed the first orc she came across and was surprised to see the warchief’s student.
“Gul’dan! Strength and honor.” Shar said to hide her astonishment. She had to get to Ner’zhul right away to warn him. “What brings you this far south?”
“Shar! Strength and honor.” The young orc responded. “We” he gestured to include the silent orcs behind him, “are here to commune with the ancestors on what should be done with the interlopers.”
“The Draenei? They are peaceful creatures.” Shar responded.
“I would not dare to question the ancestors, their wisdom far exceeds my own.” He said.
“They have not steered us wrong before.” Shar admitted, “But one must be ready to hear what is said, not what they want to hear.”
“Are you implying that we are purposely misinterpreting what the ancestors say?” he asked in a huff.
“I am saying that listening and hearing are two different things, young one.” It was time to go…Vilenni was right and the warning needed to be sounded. “I must go. I have sick ones to tend and a new sickness to report.”
“You left the sick alone? What kind of sickness?” he asked shocked.
“Of course not. My best student is watching them so it’s nothing to worry about.”
“You’ve taken a student? From what clan? I haven’t heard anyone claiming the honor of being your student.”
Knowing she said too much Shar pretended she hadn’t heard. “Strength and honor, young one.” and she kicked the mount into a gallop. Ner'zhul had to be warned.
The atmosphere in the hut had improved. I brought the breeze in to blow out all the dead air and the brothers were sleeping peacefully. I stepped out to stretch and pulled some water to me from the distant falls. I let it wash over me in relief. Hot weather was not my friend. Shar was taking her sweet time, but I felt honored that she trusted me enough to handle them. I was walking the kinks out of my legs when the talbuk came over the ledge almost running me over.
“You son of a motherless goat! Smelly bea..” my voice stopped when I saw Shar hanging from the horns of the lathered beast. She was almost white, and I barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground.
“What happened?”
“You have to go to Sunspring post and warn the warchief. A horrible wrongness is about to befall us all.”
“Right, let me get you into the hut and I’ll go.”
“There is not time to waste!”
“Then stop arguing you old fool! I will go when you are not laying on the ground the color of milk! They won’t believe me and will need your reassurance! I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone, but I will go.”
She leaned on me and we made our way to the hut. I checked on the two sleeping orcs while she filled me in on what she had discovered. The beast was panting in the shade of the tree. I left it some water in a bowl and then set out for Sunspring Post.
I felt a wrenching sensation as I bounded down the mountain. Our hut was halfway between Oshu’gun and Sunspring, but it was a long walk. I asked the earth to keep my master and my charges safe while I was gone. Those thoughts made me push my tired body harder. Out of habit I waved to the shattered rumblers, and set off down the road. If the rocks could pull movement energy from the ground, couldn’t I? As I ran I pulled energy from the ground and I felt myself take off. The energy filled me and my speed increased. The ground flew under me…it was much closer. I cried out in alarm and was shocked to hear a yip. My arms weren’t where they were supposed to be and I was furry and transparent.
“I don’t have time for this.” I said, though it came out as growls and yips. I tried to continue running but fell, not use to running on all fours. I reached for the power of the earth running was second nature again. The feel of the ground moving beneath my paws, and the wind brought me sounds smells a plethora of information that made my brain tingle. I fell into the joy of running and almost ran past Sunspring Post. The wrongness drew me out of my elation. It was here too. Not sure what to do I slid into town to listen.
The orcs were massing! Talk in the village was, an attack Shattrath then to move to wipe out all Draenei! I shook in fear and rage. Nothing we had done would warrant this! I couldn’t reveal myself to the warchief with people talking like this. I’d be killed instantly and be of no help. I worked myself out of the town and towards the water…I had to try. The warchief was addressing a large group of people by Lake Sunspring. I hoped he has attempted to counter the genocide.
“The ancestors have spoken me about the invaders.” Ner’zhul exclaimed. “My beloved Rulkan has warned us that they are a threat that could wipe us off the face of our own planet!” He thumped his staff down. “The Shadowmoon Clan will remove this threat from our world! FOR OUR ANCESTORS!” And the crowd took up the cry.
This was madness. I had to warn Shattrath! Shar! I couldn’t decide where to run first. I was noticed while considering my options. My unnaturalness gave the mob a target to focus on. I was smaller than the Dire wolves that were the companions of most orcs, and being see-through probably didn’t help.
“Wait!” called Ner’zhul, “This could be a sign from the ancestors that our path is right. We have their blessings, children of the earth, let us rise and follow the wisdom of our ancestors!” The crowd liked that.
I let go of my death grip of the earth and shouted “NO!” at the top of my lungs.
The crowd stilled.
“There is a wrongness at Oshu’gun! My master, Shar Darkthorn, sent me with this warning.” The crowd was restless so I pushed on babbling, “She discovered a group of orcs, lead by Gul’dan at Oshu’gun. The earth scream in pain at their presence there, and the ancestors cry in anguish. She sent me to warn you, Warchief.”
The crowd was still thirsted for violence, but waited on the warchief. “Gul’dan and I were there to commune with the ancestors, outsider. Shar Darkthorn was once a great shaman but apparently has turned against the earth and the ancestors to call an enemy a student.”
I felt so much hate and rage at this fool. “We move to save ourselves! Kill the intruder; she will be the first in the cleansing of our world!”
The crowd roared and charged. I reached for the strength of the earth and felt the change over come me again. I was faster than the mob, but not of arrows and throwing axes. I felt pain in my shoulder, and rear as I ran. The earth was with me, I ran on.
Running south, towards home I cried. My people were going to be wiped out. I had heard stories of the horrors of Argus and the hope that the old ones had for Draenor. Now that beacon of hope was going to be slaughtered by a deaf and senile orc. While the earth’s strength kept me going, I could feel the arrows sticking out of my skin. I reverted to my upright form to remove them. I wanted to return them to their owners, in some vital spot. I hated these ignorant orcs that were willing to kill based on the ranting of one orc. If Shar hadn’t taken me in I’d say kill them all. I threw the arrows on the ground and took off running again, the change coming much faster. I had to get home, I had to warn Shar and then head for Shattrath.
The plateau was quiet. Even the beast was gone.
“Shar?” I called.
I smelled blood. Fresh non-diseased blood. Tearing open the hut’s door I was horrified. Shar was impaled on her chair. I rushed to heal her and remove the purple/pink rock shard that was pinning her to her chair. She had put up a fight; there were scorch marks and uneven ground everywhere.
“Not all the blood is mine, young one. I took two before they over powered me.” She rasped.
“Shush, Master. Let me get this out.”
“No use, heart-kin…dark magic was used. I stayed only to see you before I walk with the spirits. You’ll visit me at Oshu’gun won’t you?”
“Of course Shar. I still have much to learn from you.” I said smiling with tears running down my face.
“They took the brothers after pinning me here. They are going to get more than they bargained for with those two. Their sickness is contagious, and the demons riding them will turn on them when the body weakens.”
“Won’t I get sick from nursing them?” I asked panicked, I didn’t have time to be sick. I had to save Rakkan and Revola, then get to Shattrath.
“No. Durotar won’t allow it.” She spat up blood, “Break the crystal, and I will see you in the fields, youngling.”
I did and she was gone. Such rage burned in me. I would stop these foul orcs, no matter the cost.
I managed to rescue the brothers, and they followed me to take their own revenge. We fought against the orcs that had embraced the dark powers. Revola and Rakkan kept the name I gave them and we spread the red pox as far as we could. The orcs were disgusted by the sick ones and left them to die. We became death to the unwary enemies, but healed and assisted the sick, orc and draenei alike. It was a nightmare without end.
When the orcs drank the foul demon blood, we knew the majority of them were just as dead as the draenei they had killed. I was glad to discover that the red pox kept a small group from being infected by the demon blood. I don’t know what happened to Ner'zhul and Gul’dan, but I hoped they suffered for the pain they had caused the people and the earth. I carried the scars and hatred for the orcs that killed my mentor and slaughtered my people for years.
During one battle Revola was struck down and I was injured. Rakkan lived up to his name and slaughtered a great many fel orcs to get me away. We did not mourn his passing. He had become a great fighter, but was tired of the violence. We see him and Shar in the fields of Oshu’gun. Mentally and physically I suffered while extracting my revenge. I didn’t know if either races would recover, but both had good people in them. I come back to Shar’s plateau to remember that.
After Revola’s death, we retreated to the mountains between Nagrand and Terrocar, and set up a healer’s hut. I had taught Rakkan how to embrace the strength of earth to run as a wolf. We had used this useful form many times in battle. That usefulness paled in comparison to how it helped us save lives. Should an orc come for assistance, I would slide into the wolf and Rakkan would administer healing and medicine. If a draenei visits the hermit healer in the mountains he would play the wolf guardian. We laughed at our trick on the world, and saved as many as we can. We have many snowball fights, and raise talbuk waiting for Dreanor to return to peace.
