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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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…”

“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.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?”

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.

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.

Trixie tried looking past Kael but couldn’t see where Lavitz had called from due to him being on a lower level.

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—”

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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!”

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.

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.

The moment between them lasted quite some time before it was interrupted, and when it was it was not by Kael.

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.

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—”

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?”

They had survived the Deadmines. Unfortunately the same could not be said for many of its inhabitants.

Equestria Was Merely a Setback!

by Thunderscourge

Level 18: At The Bottom Of The Deadmines