//------------------------------// // 10. It Ain't Ogre IV // Story: Sunset in Azeroth // by RIPoste //------------------------------// Sunset grinned fiercely as she felt her magic taking hold. The spell was complete, and she did it on her first try too! Ignoring her growing fatigue, Sunset raised her hands to the sky and let out a triumphant cry as a torrent of water burst out from behind her and took the form of a faceless humanoid. She had managed to summon a Water Elemental. Sure, she wasn’t able to bring forth it instantly like the book had described it to be so, but considering that this was her first time, she could almost hear the praise coming from Kel’Thuzad’s mouth. The titanic humanoid hovered above her like a protective guardian, its height easily over five meters tall. It was larger than what the books described but hey, Sunset have no complaints, especially not after she used a ritual to summon it. Before her, Mandin was still fighting the giant gnoll, but the orc warlock had stopped its assault on the priest to gape openly at the spectacle before him. Gathering itself, the warlock snarled as it raised its hand and began to chant, preparing some form of spell. Sunset never gave it a chance. With a mental command, the elemental sent a burst of freezing water at the warlock, the rock-solid wave knocking it on its back, halting its spellcasting. Sunset grinned fiercely at the sight, it felt good to actually pay back some of the pain she had suffered at its hands. As the warlock tried to rise, another burst of water forced it down again, but still it tried to rise as its hate-filled eyes gazed at her. A thin green arm shot out pointing in her direction, and a ball of shadow sped towards Sunset from it. Sunset instinctively formed an arcane shield about her self and she watched as the ball of shadow splashed against it, sending a powerful feedback from the shield to Sunset and caused her to almost lose her footing. Still, Sunset kept her balance and looked up at the orc from behind the shimmering purple shield. And grinned. She could see the Orc's eyes widened in fear as the Water Elemental surged forth towards it. It raised a hand, and another ball of sickly looking green energy flew towards the towering figure but dissipated as a burst of arcane energy from Sunset sent it scattering into the winds. Sunset smiled as the warlock only had time for a single panicked cry before the Elemental smashed into it. She watched as the warlock writhed and attempted to stand against her summoned creature only to be bowled over again and again by each attack from the Water Elemental. The fight was truly one-sided, and Sunset was confident in her Water Elemental's ability to eventually kill the Warlock, still, it wouldn't hurt to be sure. Waving an arm, Sunset conjured forth four icicles and with another wave of her hand, the icicles buried themselves in the orc as it lay on the ground. Spasming slightly as the spikes struck home, the warlock looked stupidly at the icicles from where it lay before falling still, never to rise again. Normally, Sunset should have felt some sort of disgust at killing something so callously, but in this very moment? All she could feel was the rush of power, power that she could use to win this battle. Ignoring her increasing fatigue, Sunset flourished with her hand and pointed at the gnoll that was still battlling Mandin, a blast of fire erupting from her to scorch the offending creature’s back. “Go!” The verbal command to the Elemental was unneeded, but by Celestia does it feel good! The Water Elemental roiled forth on a wave of water before smashing its fists into the gnoll. The crazed and blinded beast tried to fight back, but it was in vain, after all, a Water Elemental was not so easily harmed by physical attacks and could not even feel any pain. Coupled with the wounds that she gave to it earlier in the fight and the one it had suffered at the hands of the priest, Sunset was confident that her elemental could handle the giant gnoll. She watched as the Water Elemental surged against the gnoll packleader, wrapping it in watery confines as it delivered punch after punch at the beast. Unfortunately for the gnoll, which had been actually doing quite well on defending itself against the elemental, it had been too focused on protecting itself from the enemy it was facing to pay attention to the one sneaking up behind. One well aimed swing of Mandin’s dagger later, and the gnoll fell to the ground in a shower of its own blood, its lifeless eyes gazing up into the sky.  Now that that was taken of, Sunset took a look out on the battlefield. From the looks of things, the battle was fairly even, but now that Helcular had taken an active role in setting the gnolls on fire, it would seem that the tide was turning in their favor again. Her eye twitched when she caught sight of a three foot tall green orc squatting over a human, hands at the human’s throat, strangling the life out of him. Her eyes then widened when she realized that the human being strangled was none other than the Captain Erik. Don’t get her wrong, Captain Erik, in truth, had been actually rather annoying. He had somehow installed himself as Sunset’s personal guardian for the entire trip over Helcular, who had been designated as her superior and supervisor for the entire trip. Still, while Sunset was not so eager to actually be acquainted with the captain for any extended period of time, he had shown her nothing but goodwill and concern these past few days. And Sunset was anything but ungrateful to those who had been kind to her, even if they did it for inexplicable reasons. Sure, she might be a jerk to them, but she wouldn’t hurt them unless they give her reason. Drawing patterns in the air, Sunset sent a blast of arcane energy at the orc, knocking it off the captain and sending it flying some ten meters across the clearing. That was weaker than usual. Sunset frowned, that spell should have just crushed the orc with sheer force, not knocked it flying. Looking at the results of her work, Sunset tsked and looked down at her hand, which seemed to be trembling. Only then the she realised how low her mana reserves actually were. No wonder that did not have the impact she thought it would, Sunset gritted her teeth as she let out a mental curse. With all the spells she had been throwing about and the summoning of the Water Elemental, it seemed that she was not only getting tired, but also running out of mana. In fact, she only just noticed that she had been breathing haggardly all this while! Not good. Sunset took a deep breath as she looked at the orc picking itself up. She was probably too tired to continue the fight. Sure, she still had her Water Elemental, but how long would it last protecting her and the Captain? In fact, on that particular train of thought, was the good Captain Erik even alive in the first place? Sunset threw a glance at the prone figure lying on the ground, and for a moment, she thought that he was actually dead. At least, until she saw the gradual rise and fall of the man's chest. He was alive, thank Celestia, but only just barely. Still, there was another Orc to deal with, and Sunset was not sure if she had enough magic to face it with only Brother Mandin and her Elemental as backup. Fortunately, it seemed that the good captain had actually done quite a number onto the Orc, it looked to be in a worse shape than she was, with a wound at its side bleeding profusely, covering its leg in its black blood. For half a moment, Sunset had thought it would charge, but it merely looked around at the battlefield, giving a brief glance at the dying or escaping gnolls, the second ogre that was just killed by Sir Redrick and Dame Finora and finally, the warlock with four icicles stabbed into it. It looked at Sunset again and growled, before it turned tail and ran. Sunset looked on, a mixture of shock and relief swirling inside her mind. After all she had seen that creature did, she had been sure that escape would have been the last thing on its mind. Nevertheless she was glad that it left when it did, while she was sure that with the Water Elemental, she could take on the orc, there was just something about it that unsettled her, more so than the warlock did. No point dwelling on it. Sunset shook her head, as she registered the clamoring around her. No, not clamoring, cheering. Wait, why were they cheering? “Oh.” Sunset said in realisation as she looked around, registering the lack of fighting in the clearing.  They won. They won. Truth be told, it was not such a bad feeling, Sunset noted as she took in the faces cheering, some were cheering in relief, others in joy, regardless, all of them were cheering in the victory they had attained. It was a good feeling, Sunset noted, but she could not help but feel that something was a bit odd in the scenario unfolding before her. Unfortunately, she could not think any further on it when one of the militias walked over and clapped her heartily over the back. That was when she realized it, when another came forward and shook her hand. Now that she looked at it, they were all looking at her, cheering for her, or at least, those that were not tending to the wounded. Still, it felt good, Sunset smiled. To think that all she ever wanted, to be adored, was only to help these people against their enemies. Coming through the mirror was definitely the best decision she had ever made. “Well done, Helcular.” Kel’Thuzad said as he continued to study the scroll he had set out before him. From what he could see from his vantage point, Helcular noted that it was detailing a rather interesting yet simple enchantment on how to enchant a golem to be able to follow a set routine that does not require an accompanying mage, truly fascinating. “It is good to see that both of you are otherwise unharmed.” It had been two weeks since he had accompanied the Archmagus’ apprentice on her first mission. While he had not expected the mission to go as out of hand as it did, the fact that he was standing here not only in one piece, but also succeeded in both his missions of escorting Sunset Shimmer back alive and whole and solving Southshore’s problems, was more than enough for Helcular to keep his peace about the misinformation for his task. Magi, after all, were pragmatic people when it came to results. “Yes, Lord Kel’Thuzad,” Helcular bowed respectfully, “Captain Erik has been most grateful for the fact that you were willing to send your apprentice to his aid. He said that she had been most pivotal in helping him deal with the orcs that had been directing the ogres and gnolls in Southshore.” The good captain had actually said a lot more.than that. Like how he did not appreciate the Kirin Tor sending a little girl to the battlefield, no matter how easy it was or how powerful she was. In fact, the captain had sent a protection detail to escort the him and the unaware Sunset Shimmer back to Dalaran. In fact, it was probably best for her to think of it as thanks for saving the good captain’s life, while it was rude for the captain to be so fiercely protective of the girl who saved his life and still continue to treat her as a child, it would be best to not sour relationships between the two. Who knows, there may come a time when Sunset’s connections she had built today with the Alliance army may come into use. “I know about that,” Kel’Thuzad snapped irritably. “It was all stated in that report that you handed to me.” A report that the Archmagus had skimmed in a matter of seconds before tossing it aside. “You said that she summoned a Water Elemental to deal with the orcs?” “Yes, Lord Archmage. From what she told me, it was her first time doing so.” “Of course it is,” The Archmage muttered as he peered at the scroll before him, “I would not expect any worse from my apprentice. Though she still has a long way to go, you said that she took a bit of time to summon it?” “Yes, Lord Archmage.” “Pity, I had hoped that she would have been able to do it in an instant. Especially if she had followed the methods in the scrolls I had passed her.” Helcular suppressed a frown as he heard the Archmagus’ comment. Not to do himself any discredit, for Helcular knows himself to be a very accomplished mage when compared to some of his peers, but even he could not summon a Water Elemental without prior preparation. The fact that Sunset could do so on the spot without any practice beforehand was a sign that she had possessed not only an aptitude for magic of that sort, but also a rare talent for spellcasting. But who was he to question his master, the archmage Kel’Thuzad? One of the greatest minds in all of Azeroth and a wizard that was without peer and unafraid to step where none had dared to venture. Surely, he had great plans for his apprentice, ones he had not seen fit to share with Helcular yet. If he deemed Sunset to be inept for her level, than Helcular would not argue against it. Still, he had seen a potential ally in the young mage that was Sunset Shimmer, who would no doubt become a great ally to him in the future. Perhaps he might see if he could help her into gaining some actual connections? “Master, if I may?” He asked, before continuing at Kel’Thuzad’s irritated approval. “The Alliance army had seen Sunset’s aid as valuable in this particular mission. Knowing their distaste for us in general, they would normally only accept help from those magi that were recommended,  especially if the recommendations came from their ranks.” “Yes, yes.” Kel’Thuzad waved dismissively. “Your point being, Helcular?” “They would likely call upon Sunset’s help again if favorable words of her mission this time would reach their inner circles.” Helcular smiled as he got to the meat of the matter, “I think it would be best to prepare her for upcoming missions so that she could easily foster ties with the Alliance.” “You mean to prepare her for more battles?” Kel’Thuzad questioned, his pupils narrowed. “Yes.” “Hmmmmm,” Kel’Thuzad pondered, stroking his beard before he snorted. “It will be good to have another mage like you who have ties to the Alliance under my wing.” He nodded. “What you say have merit, however, I do not believe that her deeds will reach other ears without some form of aid and assistance. I trust you know what to do?” His eyes flashed at Helcular. “Yes, I know, Lord Kel'Thuzad.” It was time for him to play his part in integrating Sunset with the Alliance army. Captain Erik would probably not be helpful in spreading the news on his own, but if he and his crew were to be approached by others who Helcular had 'pushed' in their direction, 'Sunset' might become a name that most of Helcular’s ‘friends’ may soon be familiar with. “Now then, begone with you.” Kel’Thuzad waved a hand, dismissing his subordinate. “I must devise a new training regime for the girl if she is to become my contact in the alliance. Not to mention,” He smiled, “there’s a particular royal in Dalaran I would want her to get closer to.” Helcular bowed deeply before turning to exit the chamber, a smile upon his face. Let it not be said that Helcular was one to waste opportunities and allies when they came by. After all, as one who had been ‘inducted’ by Kel’Thuzad, he would want as many allies alongside him as possible when his master had discovered the secrets of Life and Death. And that day would be glorious.