Azjol-Nerub, Part I - The Upper Kingdom
Applejack woke to a dark green sky.
She blinked slowly, groggily, trying to get her bearings. Her head felt heavy, all her senses dulled. She could tell at least that she was cocooned tightly in something that was doing a spectacular job of keeping her warm, but nor did she feel hot.
The sky... no - not the sky. A cover, or ceiling. She was familiar with the material - it was the same as all of their Stormwind-issued camping equipment. She had to suppose that she was in a tent, though - judging from the height of the ceiling above her eyes - a much larger one than what she was used to.
She went to sit up within the sleeping bag - for that was what she had come to realise was confining her - but the motion sent a jolt of pain throughout her upper body. Easing herself back onto the bed, she tilted her head forward to look down instead and saw that she was wearing a simple white shirt that she had no recollection of ever wearing before. Below that, she could just see - and feel - a ring of white bandages wrapped tight around her abdomen.
Looking up again a little, and further ahead to the right, she caught sight of a number of large brown crates, piled up by the entrance of the tent, all stamped with the rich blue and yellow of the lion crest of Stormwind.
The medical tent... she realised, and then everything slotted into place. The tent, the supplies...
The pain.
I was... we were fightin' all those mages, and... a dragon, she thought; the fog clearing, the memory of the battle becoming sharper in her mind. It... slashed me? And then...
...
No. There was nothing else.
That was the last thing she could remember.
...how long've I been out for?
It had to be night outside - she could tell from the dimness of a small patch of light, creeping through the entrance flap. The sheer amount of snow always present on the ground, at least at this time of year, meant that even past dusk it was never pitch-dark in the Dragonblight, but there was still an obvious difference between the night and the day.
So, yes it was night outside - but she had no idea which night.
She sighed, then winced, trying to block out another twinge of pain radiating from the centre of her body. Starting from her toes, she moved up through her body and stretched every muscle in her body that she could; slowly, carefully, methodically - and otherwise keeping as still as possible.
She could feel everything. That was a good sign. But everything felt stiff, achy, like she hadn't moved for a while. That was less promising.
Guess I was out for a while.
She reached her neck and tilted her head gently over to the left to stretch it.
And it was then that she spotted Rainbow Dash.
Her friend was fast asleep, balanced atop a crude, yet sturdy-looking wooden chair beside the stretcher bed. Her armour rested at her side like she had removed it upon sitting down, and she wore her warm clothing atop the standard-issue blue shirt and trousers that they had all received. Her upper body was covered by a thick woollen blanket, which looked like it had been placed over her by someone else.
She looks well, Applejack thought, but an icy pang of alarm shot through her heart. She shuddered involuntarily, and the pang turned into a twinge of true pain. That fight we were in... everyone else—
The fly-sheet twitched, and a night elf woman entered the tent, interrupting Applejack's train of thought. She recognised her, having seen her around the camp previously, as one of the camp's medics - as if the silver band around her robes didn't already make her status as a priest clear. The two of them had never interacted before - she didn't even know the woman's name.
She glanced at Applejack as she entered, then started as she realised that Applejack was looking back at her. "Ah!" she exclaimed, then hurried over, clasping her hands together in excitement. "You are awake!"
"Ah—" she rasped, but found that was all she could manage, becoming suddenly conscious that her throat felt as dry as a desert.
The medic could either read minds, or the source of Applejack's difficulty was just that obvious, and she hurried to get her patient a mug of water. She brought it Applejack's lips, and the warrior gulped it down eagerly - then had another cup, for good measure.
The cool liquid slid down her parched throat, and after the second dose, she had the strength to ask, "How long've I been out?"
"About three days," the medic answered. "How are you feeling?"
Three days... She winced. It wasn't as bad as she had feared, but it was still a lot of time to have lost.
"'m... okay," she replied, after a moment. "I feel stiff, and m'chest hurts, but it don't feel like anything's gonna fall off. So that's something."
The medic nodded. "I am glad to inform you that there should be no permanent damage," she said, to which Applejack let out a breath of relief that she'd not realised she'd been holding. "It may take some time for the pain to completely fade, and you will be off your feet for at least a week while we continue your treatment, but your injuries are responding well to our healing. If you feel able, I will perform an examination while you are conscious, and then provide additional healing to allow you to sleep more easily.
It was night - and thus unlikely that any of her friends would be awake to talk, and she didn't want to disturb them from their no-doubt limited rest.
Still, she had to ask. "Wait - my friends. Are they all okay?"
"We are still seeing—" The medic paused to think for a moment, then continued, "—Rarity, that is her name - regularly, for an injury to her leg, but your squad are all doing well, that aside."
Applejack let out another relieved sigh, sinking back a little into her sleeping back and the cot bed below it. "I'm glad."
The medic beamed at her. "Ah, the bonds that you soldiers share, the comrades you draw such strength from," she said, then pointed lightly towards Rainbow, "Your squad have kept a constant vigil, you know, while you have been unconscious, and she has been here the most, with your commanding officer close behind - in fact, I saw Lieutenant Sparkle out as she headed off for her duty shift, moments before you woke up. It warms my heart when I see them here, every time."
"Yeah," Applejack agreed softly, as the medic went back to work, preparing her examination. She tilted her head to gaze at Rainbow again, who was still snoozing peacefully, curled up on the chair. "My friends... are the best."
Bed rest had never sat well with her - not back home on her farm, and not here.
Not when there were chores to be done. Not when there was work to do.
The first few days passed quickly, for she had much in the way of actual sleep to catch up on, instead of painful unconsciousness.
A week passed before she could confidently say that she was feeling better. She could move around and even exercise without re-opening her wounds. She'd started off by taking several slow, deliberate walks around the camp to stretch her legs, and progressed to gentle runs around the perimeter of the camp, in addition to light upper body drills, hoping to prevent her muscles from wasting away.
And to get used to moving with the pain in her chest - the pain that plagued her at the slightest shift of her upper body.
It had already diminished over the past week, becoming much more manageable... but she had no guarantee that it would disappear entirely. So she had to exercise, to train; to make that pain familiar - as she'd done before with her regular exertions around the farm - and then conquer it.
Still, there was no chance that she would be returning to active duty any time soon. No chance of returning to the sentry shifts that her friends continued to undertake without her, and without Rarity, whose leg injury, aggravated by the hasty retreat through the forest, had similarly seen her restricted to light duties around the camp.
This took the form of assisting the camp's few civilian personnel with their work. They were a quartet of night elves who had arrived - alongside half a squad of soldiers - on the latest steam tank from the east, while Applejack had been unconscious, apparently on an extended pilgrimage to maintain the well at the heart of Star's Rest, a place sacred to their people. They could not fight or guard the camp, but had quickly made themselves popular with the military contingent at the camp for their skills and work in various professions - particularly in cooking and armour work, which eased the burden on the soldiers considerably.
They had exacting standards, but Rarity fit with them like a glove and took up the bulk of any tailoring work that came their way. To Applejack's surprise, however, Rarity did not seem as pleased with this as she would have imagined - an air of frustration seemed to linger around her friend during their every interaction.
When she'd thought to ask, one night, what was troubling the fashionista, Rarity had confided in her, "I appreciate the opportunity to practice my craft once again, even with such poor materials as these. It is good to know that my skills have degraded little while we have been... otherwise occupied. But I am not comfortable with the idea that our friends may soon have to march to a place where we cannot accompany them. Where we cannot do our part to protect them."
"I get whatcha mean," Applejack had replied.
She was glad, at least, that her friends would have Memoria with them. She disliked the person that the once-Derpy Hooves had become almost as much as she felt sorry for her. She wouldn't share such a sentiment with Twilight, but had no qualms admitting that the death knight was a peerless fighter.
Someone else in plate armour, willing and more than able to get stuck into the thick of the fight.
Someone able, whether it was her intention or not, to attract the ire and the attention of anyone who might want to do the group harm.
Someone aside from one of her friends.
The arrival of additional personnel had meant that the camp had needed to grow to accommodate them. Its borders - laid out by the tents on the edges - had pushed out further from the moonwell, and this necessitated that the sentries follow a larger route on their patrols.
It also meant a great deal more paperwork for Azuresteel to handle: plans to make; requisition orders to draw up, patrol taskings and other reports to review. And the more work Azuresteel had... the more work Twilight had. Spared though she was from sentry duty, by virtue of her rank, she instead had many more varied duties to do as the commander's de-facto adjutant - especially as the other lieutenants present at the camp were tasked more commonly with ranging away from it.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, she took quickly to the work. Logistics had ever been one of her strong points back home, and she found that it suited her here, too. Azuresteel couldn't tell her everything, of course, but she was beginning to build up a picture of the wider campaign. Alliance and Horde troops and war machines were pushing through in greater numbers, massing at Wintergarde Keep and Agmar's Hammer respectively. Reports from the north indicated that the Argent Crusade and Ebon Blade were starting to make headway in Zul'Drak, and that the Kirin Tor had secured their position above Crystalsong Forest as the tide turned against the blue dragonflight.
Twilight appreciated all of this knowledge greatly. It was comforting to know that things were developing in a positive direction, and that they weren't just stuck in a quagmire of death.
That she and her friends might soon be able to make progress with their own battle... getting home.
She valued her free time, limited though it was in both hours and in terms of what she could do with it, and spent as much of it as possible in the company of her friends.
Ten days after the incident on the beach, she woke from a refreshing sleep - as refreshing as a mere six hours could ever be, anyway - and set out across the camp, safe in the knowledge that she had a few hours before Azuresteel had indicated that she would call on her again.
She ran into Applejack first and stopped to talk to her, while her friend prepared to go for a run. Proper exercise - sentry duty and patrols notwithstanding - was a difficult prospect in the Dragonblight, as it required a fair amount of warm kit to be worn in order to avoid the worst of the cold... but Applejack was determined to make it work all the same. Determined to regain her strength after her injury.
"I'll be back an' fightin' fit in no time, Twi," she declared confidently, starting off with a steady pace and waving goodbye for now. "Y'can count on me!"
She encountered Rainbow next, engaged in deep conversation with one of the soldiers who had just arrived from the east. She nodded as Twilight passed, and received the same in return. Rainbow's indignation with the mage and Fluttershy had lasted a few days after their return from the beach, but seemed to have faded by now... the occasional comment aside.
Perhaps Applejack had spoken with her... or perhaps Applejack's recovery and her promising prognosis had also done much to improve the paladin's mood.
Moving on, she spotted a familiar flash of bubblegum zip across the camp, and called out to her friend. "Pinkie? How's our little operation coming along?"
Pinkie skidded to a halt, snapped to what she clearly thought was the position of standing at attention, and threw up an exaggerated salute. "Yes, ma'am!" she declared, in a comically serious tone, and then lowered her voice. "My reconnaissance of the target is almost complete, and then I'll begin to plan!"
"Great," Twilight replied. "Keep me posted." Her friend bustled away, filled with boundless energy and righteous conviction, and the mage went next to check on Rarity, a grin on her face.
She found her where she'd expected her to be - the newest tent set up for the night elf pilgrims who had recently arrived. She heard them, and Rarity, from outside, and carefully drew the tent's fly-sheet to one side, just enough that she could see within and not far enough that she could be easily seen.
She watched the fashionista draw the tool of her trade through a set of torn blue robes, mending them in a flurry of expert needlework. She watched her speak with the other artisans, complimenting each on their respective skills, as they complimented her in turn.
She saw the contentment in Rarity's face as she engaged in her favourite craft once more. The underlying delight.
Twilight smiled again, and left Rarity to her work, without interruption. Stepping away from the tent, she walked back towards the centre of the camp.
It was time for the only meeting with a friend that day that she had already scheduled in advance.
As had become typical over the past few days, Fluttershy had beaten her to their designated rendezvous point by the moonwell, and was standing a little awkwardly beside it, her bow resting against her body in a two-handed grip. They exchanged small smiles and quiet greetings, then made their way out to a clearing not far to the east of Star's Rest - on the very edge of the area patrolled by the sentries. Nobody challenged them on their destination - the camp guards had become used to seeing them walk out this way on a daily basis, and they knew that Twilight held an officer's rank.
Their chosen spot had good visibility on all sides, and they could easily make it back to the camp if something tried to threaten them. Though no part of the Dragonblight could really be called "safe", they were less likely to encounter danger here than if they had gone over to the west or north, where the Scourge were firmly entrenched, or the south, where remnants of the blue dragonflight might still lurk.
They found a tree stump and sat upon it in silence for a time, side-by-side, observing the serenity of nature. Despite the danger that they knew lay only a short distance from them... the snow-covered woods could be tranquil. Peaceful, even.
There were worse places they could be.
Twilight felt Fluttershy tremble - maybe from the cold, maybe from what she was feeling. She reached her arm around Fluttershy's shoulder, pulled her a little closer and, for just a short time, they sat and watched the world go by.
Together.
They returned to the camp about an hour before their shifts were due to begin, in order to give Fluttershy the opportunity to get some food before she had to set out on sentry duty.
With her own tasks as an adjutant for Azuresteel being far less physically arduous, Twilight decided to forgo a proper meal in favour of some conjured mana biscuits and a quick visit to Emmy, instead. She found her fellow mage in her now-typical spot - another newly erected tent, right next to the commander's.
Emmy had quickly recovered from the exertion of teleporting the group away from the rift to safety, after a couple of days of bed rest, and there had then been the question of what to do with her.
Technically, she was an enemy combatant - a commander of the enemy's forces, no less, and should have been treated as such.
But there were, of course, mitigating circumstances at play. She had been coerced against her will to serve the blue dragonflight in the first place. She had been sabotaging them throughout, and Twilight could vouch for her on that. And she had an influential father, which hardly hurt her case, either.
And things were complicated by the nature of their position - evacuating her back to Stormwind was no easy proposition. While deployments of troops had slowly started to appear again from the west, where the route from the Tundra had apparently opened up once more, they still had little capacity to transport the mage away from the camp. The next visit of a steam tank from Wintergarde Keep to the east would not occur for another few weeks, and the Kirin Tor, still occupied with finalising their position in Crystalsong Forest to the north, didn't have the resources to spare to send a mage for a teleport.
So, instead, Emmy had been permitted to set up shop close to Azuresteel, somewhere that the commander could keep a close eye on her. She was tasked with cataloguing and archiving any magical relics retrieved by the camps' troops on their patrols, and so the space filled into an increasing library of books and relics that had been reclaimed from the blue dragonflight. It was slow but interesting work, and Twilight enjoyed finding time to help her with it.
It was during one of these early sessions that Twilight had shared with Emmy the results of her own... meeting - that was a generous way to put it, meeting - with Azuresteel, following their return from the beach.
"You didn't get in too much trouble, then?"
"Well..." Twilight had trailed off, thinking back to when she had made her report to Azuresteel - when she'd stood in the tent and had recounted her tale with as much confidence as she could muster. The commander had listened without interrupting, her lips pursed, her brow furrowed, and - once Twilight had finished - took a long, heavy moment to think before responding.
"I must first make clear that what you did yesterday would, ordinarily, result in disciplinary action," Azuresteel had let her voice slide softly over the words, letting them sink deeply in. "I can accept that you had little choice but to deviate from the patrol once Lady Memoria attacked the blue flight's scouts in the first instance, and I appreciate that you did not intend to engage their forces on the beach. By returning to the beach, though, you made an active choice to return to the fray, without a clear plan and after splitting your squad and sending an injured soldier back to camp with minimal guard. This was extremely reckless. Foolhardy, even.
"However... you also recovered someone who was both a hostage and an enemy agent, and the intelligence we receive from their debrief may be key to bringing the Nexus War to a successful conclusion. And while your actions were reckless, you did not lose anyone. You could have, but you did not.
"So. This time," Azuresteel had concluded, punctuating her words with the longest of sighs, "This time, I am going to let this matter drop." Then, perhaps catching sight of Twilight's shoulder sagging in relief, she'd added, "But I do not want to this happen again. Are we clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," she'd hurried to reply. "Thank you, ma'am."
Emmy had chuckled as she'd concluded the story, and laid her hand on Twilight's with a gentle smile. "Well, if it's any consolation, I'm glad you came back for me. And very, very grateful."
Today, she greeted Twilight with a wave as she entered the tent, and the two settled into a chat about what Emmy had been investigating so far throughout the morning.
The hour went by quickly. She said goodbye to her friend, and presented herself next to Azuresteel.
The commander's frustration with her had lingered somewhat in the week following their "meeting", but - much like Rainbow's - had all but dissipated by now. She handed Twilight with a mug of sweetened goat's milk, warmed gently over the fire, and bade her sit.
"I have a new mission for you, and your squad," she said. "I've received word from Valiance Keep that they intend to send a company to Wintergarde via Star's Rest - the first to attempt the journey since the Goldshire Regiment was lost, prior to your arrival."
"I have received enough intelligence from patrols along the road itself to indicate that the route remains viable, but this area remains mostly unscouted." She gestured to the map on her desk, then pointed out a specific area on it, which Twilight identified as being to the north of the camp. "We know that the Scourge hold Icemist Village - previously a settlement of the taunka people - to the north-west, and we know that the Horde have set up a refugee camp near the river.
"What little knowledge we do have of this area, beyond the road, suggests the presence of a series of cave systems. I need you to conduct reconnaissance on this area, so that I can properly assess the risk of sending a large body of troops along the road and potentially attracting interest from the north.
"I would suggest not entering the caves, lest you draw unwanted attention our way, but I need an idea of the threat from the surrounding area.
"You will depart at first light tomorrow, so that I can report back to Valiance and Wintergarde on the viability of this plan as soon as possible."
"Yes, ma'am," Twilight said. "With your permission, I'll prepare a plan and brief the others tonight."
"Of course," the commander replied. "Oh, and Lieutenant Sparkle?" She added as Twilight went to exit the tent, causing the mage to pause. "Try not to get into any trouble this time."
Their departure, upon rising early and departing at dawn, was once again met with a hazy, pale sky. For Northrend, it was a remarkably pleasant day - not a fierce blizzard nor even a chill wind in sight.
The group numbered only five, with both Applejack and Rarity out of action. They took up their bags that they had packed the night before, said their goodbyes, and started out for the north. They began close to the path once again, but struck out north at the fork, instead of turning south or continuing further west.
They travelled close, though not in a huddle. Rainbow went first, in place of Applejack, while Memoria gruffly acquiesced to Twilight and guarded their rear. Fluttershy ranged a little further ahead, though stayed within sight at all times.
It didn't take long for Memoria to realise that something was off with Pinkie, up ahead. Namely the fact that she was walking backwards, staring at Memoria with remarkable intensity.
It was the last straw.
Memoria quickened her pace and caught up with the priest, whose eyes followed her constantly as she approached.
"Hey, Memoria!" Pinkie grinned. "What's up?"
"You've been following me... watching me, since you spoke to me a week ago. Studying me. You've been doing it constantly. You were doing it just now."
"I dunno what you mean," Pinkie replied, with an expression so sincere that Memoria almost bought it.
Almost.
"Stop it. Now. Or you'll soon find that you won't be able to do it."
Pinkie only smiled at Memoria's words - either she hadn't understood the death knight's meaning, or she didn't care about the threat. Rainbow, however - she heard, understood, and very much cared.
"Leave her alone!" she snapped, drawing the rest of the group's attention to Pinkie and Memoria. She quick-marched back towards them, her boots pounding the snow with heavy footfalls as she passed Twilight on the way.
"Rainbow, Memoria, please—" Twilight tried, but the paladin and death knight both ignored her, and squared off - bare face to helm, mere inches from each other. Neither went to draw a weapon, but both looked ready to do so at the slightest provocation. Fists clenched, shoulders tensed.
Memoria's eyes pulsed a vile blue. A brief, shining flare passed across Rainbow's own.
"Would you like to fight me, Rainbow Dash?" Memoria said, her helm failing to mask the excited anticipation in her voice.
"Leave Pinkie alone," Rainbow said, firmly.
"You probably think that you would have a chance," Memoria went on. "But I've slain quite a few paladins in my time. You'd be no different."
An empty threat, or no idle promise?
"Ladies," Twilight pleaded again. "We haven't got time for this."
A full ten seconds of uncomfortable staring passed... and then Rainbow looked away, and took a step back.
It was impossible to say beneath her implacable visage whether the death knight was pleased after establishing her dominance - but she clearly wasn't still happy in general. "Whatever you're planning, leave me out of it," she grunted at Pinkie, and then stalked ahead. "I'll take point," she said, forestalling any objection from Twilight.
The mage exchanged a look with each of her friends in turn - a silent reminder of Memoria's condition, and how her attitude was likely to worsen the longer that she were to go without a fight. She finished with Pinkie - who also received an additional look that said please, be more careful... and then they resumed walking, following in the wake of the fallen knight.
"Ha-ha! She might be on to me, but she doesn't know what to expect!" Pinkie exclaimed gleefully, once she was reasonably sure that Memoria was out of earshot. She pulled a piece of parchment out of her robes and scribbled some words on it.
Rainbow sighed, rubbing at her temple. "I don't think you do."
After an hour, having long since passed the fork in the road, they paused beneath a tree for some food and water - to Memoria's consternation. Unlike the rest of the group, she had no need to eat or drink and saw every such break as a waste of time. She busied herself while they waited by circling the area, hoping for something to kill - and they understood from her annoyance upon returning that she had been unsuccessful.
They resumed their journey in short order, and soon arrived at the area they had been tasked with surveying. The trees gave way to an open area, pure snow and mud, no trees in view, where it looked like the land began to rise towards the mountains to the north... and then suddenly tumbled away, a sheer drop into the earth.
These must be the caves we're looking for, Twilight thought. The others spread out along the ridge, counting the caves at her instruction, while she pulled out her map and sketched a quick outline of the terrain, and what she could see.
Nothing hostile. No easy way up from the caves, either. It looked like a promising result.
"That's a bit of a drop," Rainbow commented as she returned to Twilight's side and kneeled at the edge. "Bet it would hurt if we fell down there."
"I can't see anything inside the caves from up here." Fluttershy peered down, now standing next to Rainbow.
"That's okay," Twilight said, as she finished adding the annotations for the caves on her map, and then moved to stand by the others too. "Azuresteel just wanted us to find the caves and check the surrounding area. She didn't want us to go in them, so we'll go a little further west and then head back to camp.
"Besides, I've no idea how we'd get back up if we went down there."
"Are you finished yet?" Memoria asked impatiently, joining the group too.
"Ooh, are we gathering here for a party?" And that made five.
Rainbow looked down at the ground below their feet. "Y'know, I'm not too sure it's safe for all of us to—"
And so - not for the first time in two weeks - the group fell down a cliff.
It wasn't a terrible fall - much less distance than it had been at the beach, and once again they had escaped major injury. They could shrug it off, at least.
"Is everyone okay?" Twilight asked just to be sure, receiving a chorus of groans in the affirmative... and a grunt from Memoria, which she took to mean that everything was fine.
"I'm starting to think that luck's not on our side," Rainbow said as they all got to their feet.
"Really?" Pinkie asked. She hummed a few notes, snapped her fingers... and the bumps and scrapes that the group had earned on their way down shrank a little, and stopped weeping. "What's made you think that?"
Rainbow rolled her eyes.
Now they were down... they needed a way back up. While it hadn't been a long fall, it was a very uneven obstacle. "Anyone think they can scale that?" Twilight asked, not fancying her own chances in the slightest.
Fluttershy shook her head, and the paladin looked up the cliff. "AJ and I did some climbing when we stayed in Dun Morogh, but only when we had equipment... which we don't have right now. Plus, I'm wearing much more armour than I was back then. Might have a chance if I took it off, but..."
...it would then be a perilous journey back to Star's Rest for Rainbow to bring back a search party. Not ideal.
"I can do it," Memoria said. "Just try not to die while I'm gone."
That was a workable solution. Hardly an ideal one, either, given the possibility of Scourge or wildlife attacks in the area, but Memoria would by far be the quickest back to the camp atop her darkling steed.
Twilight wasn't particularly enamoured with the idea of having to inform the commander via Memoria that she'd once again led the group over the wrong side of a vertical drop, and thus needed rescuing... but nor did she see much choice.
Fluttershy's head jerked in the direction of the nearby caves. "Did you hear that?" She asked quietly.
"Hear what?"
They paused to listen, Memoria and Rainbow standing particularly still in their typically clanky armour. At first, there was nothing... and then came something of a heavy, skittering sound, like the movement of multiple, large creatures with many legs. The sound was moving towards them, from inside the gloom.
Had it been the first time they had seen the three creatures, they might have recoiled at the sight - but they could identify them as nerubians immediately once they emerged, as they resembled the 'crypt fiends' that the group had fought from atop the walls of Valiance Keep, or that Memoria had served beside while under the thrall of the Lich King. But these were living nerubians, not undead as the crypt fiends had been. Their eight eyes were clear, focused, untainted by death.
One of the three, the largest, stepped forward first, though not close enough to be threatening. He wore what appeared to be simple bronze armour, and had clearly taken care to protect the most vulnerable parts of his body without sacrificing too much in the way of manoeuvrability; the spiked metal covering his head and fangs, the top of his abdomen and his joints. The rest of his body was a dull, fleshy purple - a shade matched by his fellows - his guards? - though unlike him, they wore no armour. Each of his eyes burned a deep, cold red beneath his helm as he regarded them sternly.
"You trespass on dangerous land," he said, with a chittering voice and a grasp of the common tongue that surprised Twilight. "Why are you here?"
"Our apologies," the mage said, moving forward to better command his attention, and then gestured behind her friends. "My name is Lieutenant Twilight—"
"I care not for your name or titles," he snapped, punctuating the expression with a shake that seemed to rattle across his entire body. "You are clearly from the 'Alliance'. Explain why you are here."
So much for exchanging pleasantries, she thought; paused for a moment, then decided that simple brevity was the best approach. "We fell down the cliff and we're trapped."
"Trapped?" His gaze darted up the cliff and then slowly lowered back down, as he confirmed the truth of what Twilight had said. "Hmm. So you are."
His wording was a little ominous for her liking. "As I said, we're very sorry! If you can show us another route out, or if you have any equipment we could borrow to climb with, we'd be very grateful, and would be on our way immediately."
"We have no time to help the lost and foolish," he replied, more sharply than before. "We are engaged in a war for our very survival."
"Against the Scourge?" The assumption wasn't much of a leap.
"Of course. You stand on the precipice of our home - Azjol Nerub. We few living nerubians stand against the unending horde, their forces directed by the traitor king - who squats in the ruins of our fallen kingdom."
"The 'traitor king'?" Memoria interjected, her interest piqued. "Anub'arak?"
"Yesss..." the spider-creature spat, then appraised Memoria more closely. "You are marked by the power of death... but do not serve him?"
"No," Memoria bristled, "I do not. I will kill him."
The nerubian's mouth twisted into a half-visible smile. He seemed pleased. "An opportunity, then. Help us take back our home, and we will lead you all to what lies beyond his throne - a secret path through the mountains. To safety."
Pursue the goals of a questionably friendly, possibly unstable individual who they had only just met, against a Scourge warlord of significant notoriety, who was likely also quite deadly... or remain stuck in a hole.
It wasn't much of a choice, and Twilight hated that.
"Can you give us a moment to discuss this, please?" she asked. The nerubian splayed out his hands in response - a gesture she took to mean assent, and then her friends and Memoria gathered in a tight circle around her, to talk.
"I'm going to say this right away. Whatever you decide to do, I'm going in there." Memoria declared, bluntly.
"But—"
"Anub'arak is one of Lich King's strongest lieutenants. His death would be a serious blow to the Scourge. To him." She glared at Twilight, eyes blazing with frost, as intense as the nerubian's had been a few moments before. "I will not pass up an opportunity as promising as this."
What could the others say to that?
There was nothing else to discuss. There was nothing to debate. Her tone brooked no argument, no room for dissent.
Memoria was the only one who had a realistic shot of climbing out and making it back to the camp for help. And just like before, in the forest, Twilight knew that she couldn't just leave the death knight to fend for herself.
"Looks like we don't have a choice then," Rainbow said grimly. "We're going in."
Fluttershy and Pinkie nodded too.
Twilight sighed, glad that her loyal friend had been the one to say it. "Thank you," she replied, and turned back to the waiting nerubians. "We accept. Lead the way."
The nerubian bobbed his head forward and strode off towards the entrance of the cave, his fellows in close order. He beckoned with his right hand as he reached the threshold and then disappeared from sight. Memoria followed first, without hesitation, her blades now drawn in eager anticipation.
The rest exchanged a nervy glance - one that they had each seen frequently on each other's faces throughout the preceding months - and followed her into the darkness.
Another situation for which Twilight knew, despairingly, that she had no plan. She hadn't known that the caves would be cut deep into the ground. She hadn't known that there would be cliffs, once again.
These unpredictable encounters were almost beginning to become predictable. Maybe it would be worth assuming that every mission going forward would involve falling down a cliff.
It didn't make her feel any better that Memoria seemed more than a little pleased - excited, even - with the turn of events that their misfortune had generated.
The nerubian leader gave his name - after Pinkie's third attempt at asking quite directly - as 'Reclaimer A'zak', and said nothing else for a time. They followed him through the dimly lit cave, the only illumination provided by a series of dull torches dotted about the walls. Every step was a challenge on the uneven, bile-ridden ground beneath their feet. It was thoroughly unpleasant going, made worse by how much warmer it was inside the cave than it had been outside in the snow, making them sweat from the exertion in their cold-weather gear.
After a short distance, the air filled with a foul stench, wet and vile, born of filth and decay. It made all of the group gag and cough, save for Memoria, who seemed as oblivious to it, or at least unaffected by it, as the nerubians escorting them.
The group had all encountered the undead and their odour before, but only ever when defending Valiance Keep, or on open ground. They had not pursued the Scourge into territory that they controlled - territory that they had had the opportunity to infest. The smell did not dissipate - indeed, it only seemed to intensify the further they went into the network of caverns.
Noticing their reactions, A'zak uttered an odd noise - which Twilight could only assume was halfway between tutting and scoffing.
"Tread carefully, humans," the reclaimer said scornfully. "These tunnels may have been defiled by their presence, but were once the road to the Gilded Gate, and the very heart of our empire. I will have you treat them with respect."
"Haven't got much of a nose, have you," Rainbow muttered, but fortunately A'zak did not hear her.
A little further in, and Memoria let her growing impatience be known. "I was promised a fight. Where are the Scourge?"
"Their forces have not been sallying this far out from the main gate," the reclaimer explained. "They have committed the bulk of their forces to what lies beyond it - what is keeping them distracted. And..." Azak's tone changed just a little, to something that they could not decipher. "They have been depleted already, today."
Before they could ask him to expand on such a cryptic statement, the path forward narrowed suddenly, such that the group could only walk two abreast. It widened again after only a few yards, and expanded out into a larger cave, where the faux lights were brighter, and they could see much more clearly. A'zak skittered slowly ahead, turned to regard them, and held his arms up, as if having them witness something important.
"We come to the resting place of the Krik'thir the Gatekeeper, our former vizier," he said. "A great hero to us in life... a terrible foe in death."
"Resting place? You mean like a tomb?"
"No," their guide said, pointing as they moved forward a little more. "Where he fell."
They had all by now seen their fair share of the deceased since arriving in Azeroth - most of whom had been undead moments before - but this was certainly the largest that Twilight had ever seen.
Though she assumed that he was a nerubian, like A'zak, the difference between the two was like night and day. Where their guide looked much more like a spider in body, with a bulbous abdomen and sickly white thorax atop four spindly legs, this individual looked much taller, his own legs much longer, yet thicker too. The only characteristic that they appeared to share was the arrangement of their many eyes.
"You were able to slay him?"
"Not us," A'zak pointed to the side of the fallen vizier, "Them."
Five brutalised, almost entirely decomposed bodies. And a tabard, surprisingly intact, which identified them as...
Horde.
"I see that we're not the first group that you've asked for help," Twilight said, trying hard to avoid sounding accusatory.
With little success.
The nerubian shrugged, unashamed. "I will admit that they fought well up to this point. The curses and poisons they suffered were their doom, even as they brought the Gatekeeper and his guards down. Hopefully you will do better."
Hopefully.
They had all been members of the Horde. She'd heard little good about them, or their conduct across the world, from her fellows in the Alliance. But that didn't stop her from feeling sorry for them... nor grateful, for their sacrifice against this monstrosity.
The group - Memoria aside - hurried past the dead bodies, all very conscious that a similar fate might soon await them, too. All very conscious that there was no way that they could back out now.
All trying very hard not to think about it, or show their thoughts.
And so - out of sight... mostly out of mind.
Beyond the 'gatekeeper' stood the gate that he had doubtless been guarding, and, the torches aside, it was the first real hint of the nerubians' old civilisation that they had seen. The natural rock that made up the cave had been carved out, replaced by chiseled, darker stone. A vast ornamentation of bronze, gold and jewels adorned it: the face of a spider - or a nerubian - looming over them menacingly.
A sound made all of them tense up, the slow patter of legs on hard stone. Weapons ready, they waited as the source crossed the threshold and came into view.
Another nerubian. Another living one.
"A'zak," the newcomer said. His voice was deeper than that of his kin, "You have returned with more aid."
A'zak chittered in response, and it took Twilight a moment to realise that the sounds he had made were the nerubians' mother tongue.
The newcomer's face twisted into an expression resembling disdain.
"I thought it courteous to speak in Common, so that our newfound friends could understand us."
More chittering from A'zak, and the newcomer sighed, then looked across at the group. "Since my brother appears to have lost his manners along with the fall of our kingdom, it appears I must introduce myself. I am Kilix. Kilix the Unraveler. Thank you for agreeing to assist us."
"We didn't have much choice," admitted Rainbow, "but if it's for a good cause..."
"I offer you my thanks, all the same. The living remnants of our race are too few to overcome the traitor king and his forces - our queens too precious; our lords too scattered, our brood too young. With your help, however, we may stand a chance."
"They do this for their own benefit, not ours," hissed A'zak. "They only wish to escape this place and protect their own. They care little for our survival. Your gratitude for their kind, and for these "Horde" before them, is a weakness, brother."
"It is for all our benefit, A'zak," Kilix replied.
"We don't want to see your people destroyed," Twilight cut in. "If we can help, we will."
"The Scourge have made no effort to reach us here, and I can understand why. They may not yet know that Krik'thir has fallen, but our pet is keeping them busy down below even if they do."
"Your 'pet'?" Fluttershy asked, her interest piqued.
"You will see."
"They will see now," A'zak said, striding towards the arch that the dead vizier had been protecting - from where the Unraveler had emerged. "It is time we put them to use."
"I agree," Memoria said, "We've dallied enough."
Kilix indicated that they should follow, and so they did. A'zak's guards stayed where they were, holding the room.
"The most direct route to Anub'arak, at the seat of the Brood Pit, lies through here," Kilix explained, as they passed through the arch and emerged into another poorly-lit cavern. This one was dramatically larger than the last, to the extent that they couldn't even make out the ceiling, shrouded as it was in by distance and shadow.
They found themselves standing atop a bridge of dark blue stone inlaid with bronze, and, looking back, could see that the gate was decorated in an identical fashion on this side as it had been on the other, with metal-tipped legs jutting out from gold.
What drew their attention immediately, however, was the sound of battle. It had been impossible to make out before they had passed through the gate, but now they could the skittering of many limbs, and the... the rush of something large moving below them.
Kilix stepped to the edge of the bridge and pointed below. "This is the first obstacle you face,"
They joined him, looking over the side, and what they saw took their breath away.
A massive, grey-white spider web, extending out over a cavernous pit, surrounded by more nerubian architecture that presumably led elsewhere in their underground kingdom.
And on that web, deeper into the pit... a monstrous spider - bigger than they could have ever imagined. It had to be as tall as a house, and each fang was as large as a person. Its carapace was a mottled, spotted grey, and its spindly legs looked like they were made out of bone. Its eyes glowed an eerie purple - as did something dripping from its mouth.
It thrashed around on the web, fighting against foes that they could not clearly see from so far away - striking with its legs, biting with its fangs, even throwing around the full weight of its body.
"Behold, the shield of Azjol-Nerub!" A'zak proudly declared. "Behold, Hadronox!"
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10592653
Thanks very much for the detailed comment, and apologies for the significant delay in reply. I'm very grateful for your thoughts!
Looking back through, I'd agree that I've probably not done enough to hint at the overarching storyline recently. I've been seeding a few things here and there, and progressing some of what I'd already set up in the last few chapters, but I definitely understand your point and will do my best to feature the bigger picture more going forward. I can say that I have a chapter with long-term implications coming up soon... though it's also a bit of a weird one at the same time.
I fully take on board your comments on Twilight, and I'm going to aim to write the former with them in mind from now on.
Thanks again! :)
10731944
Very sorry for the delay in reply - thanks very much for your comment and your thoughts!
An interesting idea indeed... let's hope she stays away from any temptation in the future, eh? ;)
Been holding out to reading this for a while now because I wasn't sure if this is still continuing. Now that I finally having a try reading I feel a bit of kinship because it felt like my crossover with DnD's Curse of Strahd.
Keep up the good work, mate!
Interesting, but seeing all the girls come out human is just... disappointing. It's like you went into the ice cream aisle, saw the wide breadth of options, and then bought six pales of vanilla. Huge waste of potential right there. Could you imagine Fluttershy waking up as a dranei, applejack a dwarf, pinkie Pie a goblin, applejack a tauren, Rainbow Dash as an orc, and Twilight as an elf. Now that would have been fun.
"However... while I may not be playing WoW at the moment, and may never do so again, I feel like fan work is something we could do with more of right now. I also don't feel like I'm finished in this world just yet. So for now, I'm going to do my best to continue the story, both in writing and now also as a podfic.
I hope this makes sense, but I understand if anyone else feels differently as a result of what has happened."
Personally, I'm glad you made that decision. :)
This is the first I've heard of those reports, but, yeah, while I still don't know any details, I could definitely believe it from general knowledge. And part of the reason I hadn't heard of them is, I expect, how non-engaged I've been with WoW itself; I haven't played it for many years now. But fanwork? Well, just recently I enjoyed two different Warcraft works I'm recalling(1), with a third a bit further back(2), I still every now and then look back at Travels through Azeroth and Outland(3)... I do not think fanwork need stop because of issues with the creators of the original work, nor does disinterest in one version of the world of Azeroth portrayed in one medium automatically mean disinterest in all versions in all mediums.
Speaking of, on to this latest chapter of a version and medium combination I, personally, am indeed still interested in. :)
And I did, indeed, enjoy the chapter; thank you for writing. :)
(1) If you're interested:
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/undying-scarab.88845/
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/azeroth-the-silent-war-and-the-illusion-of-peace-warcraft-au-worldbuilding.93824/
(2) Likewise:
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/a-child-of-noble-birth-warcraft-high-elf-si-oc.88443/
(3) If you haven't heard of it:
http://destron.blogspot.com/
10944548
Oh! FIMFiction, in the way it sometimes mysteriously does, didn't notify me of your comment; glad I decided to look through these!
Anyway, no problem, and you're welcome. :)
Yep, and actively avoiding learning about a new branch of magic that also might be among their best shots at getting home should be so easy for Twilight Sparkle. Should be no problems at all there! :D
I always thought there was a lot of missed opportunity from Blizzard with handling the remaining living Nerubians. Especially Reclaimer A'zak. I like how you have written them here.