In Want for a Wand

by Leila Drake

Level 12 - Too Many Fights

There was no wind when they crossed the bridge, no sound except for the water and their steps. Their feet compressed the snow into small water puddles.

"It's so quiet", Arcus pointed out the obvious, almost whispering. He rolled his eyes at his own comment and looked back. His hood obstructed the view a little. He pulled it down.

Arcus was the last one to cross the bridge, with Jonathan and Darren at the front and Twilight and Vol'Shalai following after them. The usual formation, with the best-armored on the outside for protection, Twilight in the middle since she could create the most effective magic bubbles and missiles that way, the same went for Jon who had been working on the Light sphere and the Light magic he called the 'Holy Fire'. What a pretentious name, thought Arcus.

Arcus sincerely enjoyed sitting down with Twilight and thinking of strategies and solutions for worst-case scenarios. And even if she wasn't such an enthusiast as himself she was by far the smartest in the group. Twilight was always the smartest one in the group. Not that her humor was as awesome as Darren's, but her charm was captivating anyway. She had talked with Vol'Shalai at dawn and decided that he should be in the middle since he claimed that he could cast spells that dealt damage from a distance.

He shook his head. A new stranger in the group. This couldn't be good. And Celestia help him, even if Vol'Shalai claimed that he was just heading in the same direction by chance: If that troll stepped out of line and harmed his friends Arcus would make him sorry.

He had thought this would be a fun adventure but now that their resources, strength and patience were running out, fun was becoming a foreign concept. To tartarus with exploration. He just wanted Jon to find that damned gem, then go home and see his wife again. And it was so terribly cold. It wasn't the same cold as at home, not the controlled patterns that the pegasi controlled, not even the winds of the loosely guided weather in the Frozen North, close to the Crystal Empire. Twilight had told him stories of Northrend. This felt like Northrend. Even though she insisted that the Dragonblight's winds were worse. He stepped to the rail and looked down into the river. No fish.

"Arc? Don't fall behind!" That was Jonathan.

"Sorry, coming." He cantered to catch up with them, joining Twilight. "Isn't there anything alive in this place?"

"I think the wildlife retreated because of the first snow", assumed Twilight.

"So no bears, no wolves and no bats?" Arcus frowned.

"Don't tell me you're bored", said Jonathan incredulously.

"I'm gonna say jus' one ting, mon: Ya gotta be careful what ya wish for."

•°

They left the bridge behind, following the dusty road. Patches of it were paved, the rest just a trail in the mud. Arcus could feel the difference through the light snow blanket. Dead trees seamed the path.

The road was basically following the wide gap between the trees. As long as they stayed in the open, they should be fine.

"Okay, we can start here", proclaimed Jonathan and left the road.

"Great", muttered Arcus through clenched teeth. For once, he had hoped they would take it easier until they reached the Chapel. He frowned as he scanned the shades between the trees for any signs of trouble.

The snow muffled every sound as if it was trying to muzzle the intruders.

•°

As much as the quiet unnerved Arcus, he felt admittedly safer now that there were five of them. Vol'Shalai was a stranger but at least they would be able to defend themselves better against the wildlife... or un-life? Arcus rolled his eyes.

He watched Jonathan dig at the rocky ground with those strange tools of his. They looked almost like hammers with pointed tips. Jonathan held one down on the rock, the tip touching the surface. Then he used the other hammer-thing to hit the back of the first one. Was it called a pick? The movements were precise and he only chipped away enough to confirm whether there were any gems inside the stone or not. As soon as Jonathan was done, he sighed, brushed off the dust and packed the tools away. Arcus knew the choreography by heart. It had not been any different the last fifty-four inspections.

He has really gotten the hang of it, thought Arcus as he watched the fluid movements of the human's hands. He had not expected that those five-digit appendages would be this useful but he was beginning to understand why humans reserved only two legs for walking. How many generations did it take for them to develop from a four-legged to a two-legged people? Would ponies have gone through the same development if not for the inherent magic of the three pony races? He had once heard that their own ancestors had possessed four digits on the end of each leg. Hard to imagine!

Jonathan shook the snow that had gathered during the examination off his cloak.

Arcus readied his map and crossed out the spot Jon had inspected. He showed it to Jonathan.

"Look at this."

"Hm", hummed Jonathan. "There's a watchtower not too far from here. We probably would have noticed it if it weren't for those darn dead trees."

"Correct", said Darren absent-mindedly.

"Well?", asked Jonathan.

"What?", retorted Darren.

"How far is it?"

"About a mile."

"'kay, thanks, whatever", muttered Jonathan, slightly disappointed by Darren's curt behavior.

Arcus felt his ears flop down. He grimaced and looked at Twilight.

She moved closer to Arcus. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Probably not... but I think you should leave it for now. Darren will have his reasons."

Twilight resumed walking at her previous distance ahead of Arcus, frowning at the humans. Arcus admired her restraint. If she said anything more, Darren would probably get suspiscious - if he wasn't already. He would rather want to talk to him under four eyes before someone else would butt in.

•°

As Twilight trotted on alongside Vol'Shalai, she cringed. The awkward silence was stretching out between everybody like a big, dark, ugly cloud. She gave the troll an awkward smile and, to her surprise, he smirked back at her. So she decided to pony up and talk to the tall humanoid.

"Sooo, Vol'Shalai, what brings you to the Plaguelands?"

The troll hesitated for a moment, then he nodded. "Ya see, I been hunting - uh, wait a second..."

Arcus stopped dead in his tracks, his ears swiveling around. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Jonathan turned around and raised an eyebrow. A gust of wind blew some of his white hair into his face. He brushed it aside.

"Sh!" Darren raised his hand.

There was a shuffling, then nothing. After a few seconds, when Jonarthan was already relaxing again, the shuffling returned, accompanied by the sound of snow being compressed by light and quick footsteps. The wind made it hard to hear at all.

"Stay close", urged Jonathan, eyeing the trees.

They huddled together, turning their backs to each other, and prepared themselves. Darren carefully drew his sword, trying not to make any sound with it. Jonathan muttered something and a faint, transparent sphere of light engulfed everyone. Twilight stretched her wings, ready to leap upwards. Arcus nervously hopped on the spot while Vol'Shalai drew his axe and grinned expectantly.

Again, footsteps. Then a strange noise followed. More snow was pressed to the ground but this time the noise was much louder.

A wolf howled.

Twilight twitched and her ears folded down. "Not again", she groaned.

The steps became quicker. Finally, several strange wolf-like creatures burst from the treeline, heading towards the group.

•°

The creatures were much bigger than wolves, about as tall as Jonathan. There was a strong resemblance to hyenas but the howling suggested that they were actual wolves. Green fog rose from their paws and their fur glowed in a sick, eerie light. Twilight shuddered.

"Blighthounds! Don't let them bite you!", warned Darren.

"I thought they weren't infectious!" Jonathan raised his hand in a wide arc and threw a compact sphere of blinding light at the closest hound. He dashed to the side to avoid its angry claws. The pack was large, at least a dozen predators. They had to hurry before they would get overwhelmed.

Arcus hesitated, frozen in an aggressive stance. "Now what?"

"Charge, they are not poisonous! It's only that their teeth are extremely sharp." That was Darren again. He quickly stretched out his arm, his fingers bent in a gesture of greed. Purple lightning discharged between him and a hound, pulling the surprised creature in range of his sword. He used the blade extensively on it, slashing it to pieces and freezing it over. The green fog still rose from the body as the glow died out. However, Darren did not get a chance to recover; two more hounds were already jumping at him.

While Twilight lit up her horn to blast one of the attackers away with arcane missiles, she tried to stay off the ground by frantically flapping her wings. "Watch out, Priest!", she warned, making Jonathan dodge the jump attack of another hound. He was only able to move this quickly because of his light clothing but that also meant that he was an easy target for the hounds.

Vol'Shalai wasn't lazy either. A blighthound had buried its teeth in his right shinguard. As its mouth encased the thick leather, shaking it in an attempt to rip it off the troll's leg, Vol'Shalai twirled his axe around and lashed out at the creature. Another hound threw itself at him, toppling him over with its sheer weight. He laughed manically and grabbed the second hound's paw. He fastened his grip while readying his axe. Small flashes of lightning discharged as he sunk his blade into the creature's belly. As soon as it rolled off of him, he pummelled the other one down and swiftly beheaded it.

Arcus shook his head, pulling his eyes from the gruesome view, and raised his voice in an enraged shout. He dashed towards the next hound, thrusting his armored forehooves into its face. He tried not to listen to the squishy sounds or the whining as he fought the hound. He didn't notice his own screams as he attacked one hound after the other, taking hits and delivering even more of them.

•°

When it was over, Arcus looked around. Darren was still fighting a particularly tough specimen. Vol'Shalai pulled his blade from the skull of his last victim. The entire clearing was covered with bodies and dark blood. The wet, rotten smell was incredible.

Twilight was not airborne anymore. It was way too cold for that. Additionally, her left side was soaked in her own blood. Jonathan limped to her side to heal her as she tried to suppress the shaking of her limbs and her sobs.

Arcus, panting and bleeding, concluded that they had not been so lucky this time. Even Darren was hurt; the knight had shifted his fighting technique from pure damage dealing to drawing life force from the hounds a while ago just to keep himself from toppling over. As he cut open the last hound, he bent down and did something that made Arcus avert his eyes even after the slaughter. It was one thing to slay your enemies but this...

The earth pony gasped and coughed as he emptied his stomach on the stained snow.

Everything was spinning around. Arcus tried in vain to get the pictures of desecration out of his head. He wobbled over to Twilight and Jon.

"E-everypo- ...b-body?" Frustration added to sickness. Arcus cursed himself for being unable to walk or think clearly. He fell to the ground.

That was when a strange slurping noise made his ears go up, then fold down in despair.

Another monster had joined them.

Its pale body, as big as a house, shuffled closer on its belly. There were no limbs, there was no face, only an enormous round mouth, riddled with teeth. Saliva dripped off the edges and left the monster's mouth in small streams. Its gurgling roar reminded Arcus of that sound a straw made once his glass of milkshake was empty, except this roar was about a hundred times louder and left no doubt about who was going to be the snack today. A fearful, whining gasp escaped him.

Jonathan groaned angrily and conjured a shield of light. It flickered weakly but was holding for the moment.

"Priest, no! Don't provoke da maggot - oh, balls." Vol'Shalai rolled his eyes, shaking a drop of blood off his nose at the same time.

The monster slowly turned its front end around and faced the human.

Arcus heaved an exasperated sigh and got on his hooves to attack the maggot.

It suddenly increased its speed, leaping at the pony. He dodged the attack, wincing as his legs almost cramped up in protest. The maggot turned again, trying to get its mouth close to Arcus who thanked Celestia that a body of this size was still not as fast and swift as an exhausted little pony.

"A little help?" Arcus had no idea how to harm the maggot. Its pale tent-like skin looked soft. He tried to buck it with his hind legs. No use; he simply bounced back. Arcus almost landed on his face. "I need something sharp! Sword, Axe, anything!"

Darren rushed over to him, his sword still hungry.

•°

"I so gotta - get my own blades", coughed Arcus as he and Jonathan dragged the last hounds over to the pile they had made.

"You can - probably get something like that - at the Chapel", suggested Jonathan, who was also breathing heavily. It had been hard to kill the hounds but moving their masses to one spot wasn't a joyride either. They stank like tartarus and were so heavy that only two were strong enough to move one of the beasts. So Jonathan and Arcus had teamed up, Darren and Vol'Shalai were the other team, and Twilight used the rest of her concentration to slowly levitate single hounds.

Vol'Shalai rummaged in his bag and produced a vial with some red liquid in it. He handed it over to Twilight.

She accepted it with her hoof, dropped the body she had held in her magic onto the big pile and frowned. "What is that? It's a suspiciously dark red." Her face was also sprinkled with red drops that slowly turned brown.

"Ain't blood. If ya drink it, ya gonna feel better."

"O-okay." She uncorked the vial and took a careful sip. Her eyes lit up almost instantly. "This is amazing! Thanks!" She raised her head which was suddenly not so weary anymore. "Priest, Arcus, you have to try this!" She looked at Vol'Shalai. "If that's all right with you."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Still got more of dem. Go ahead."

Arcus came over to them and gratefully accepted the offer.

After drinking a bit of the health potion, Jonathan pointed at the dead maggot. "The hounds are piled up but we still need to take care of this thing here. Any ideas?" He bent over and put his hands on his knees, trying to breathe normally.

"It's too big for me to move. I need time to recover before I can levitate something of this size", admitted Twilight. She lit up her horn once more and shakily moved a thin blanket of snow over to the pile, covering the bodies.

"Then there is one logical solution", stated Darren. He had not taken a vial. After killing the maggot he looked somewhat rejuvenated. His hood was down and an unsettling smirk distorted his tattooed face.

"Aw, come on, yikes!", groaned Jonathan.

"It is reasonable and can be done", insisted the knight, the smirk disappearing.

"What is?" Arcus had the feeling he had missed something along the conversation.

"They are talking about dissecting it, I think", muttered Twilight.

Arcus's ears folded back. "Well, it does make sense to, uh, make small portions you can move around..." He waved his hoof around in a half-hearted circling motion.

"Look, everyone, we all need a break. Let's get some rest first, okay?", pleaded Twilight.

"I could use something to eat, now that the sickness is fading", mumbled Arcus, digging at the ground. He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Jonathan put his hand on his hips and sighed. "Guess you're right. Let's move away a bit and set up camp."

•°

"Darren?" Twilight trotted around the campsite, looking for the death knight. Her hooves, covered with cloth, left round tracks in the freshly fallen snow. "Darren?"

Arcus and Jonathan were still at the fire, chewing on some dry bread without any enthusiasm whatsoever. Vol'Shalai sat a few steps away on the other side of the fire, cleaning his axe again.

"Don't go too far away, Princess!"

"Don't worry, Jonathan, I will be careful and stay in earshot", promised Twilight. "But I need to talk to Darren about something."

"Don't da knight need ta eat anyting?"

"No. He already did", said Arcus through gritted teeth.

"I never did something like that", said Jonathan, his tone thoughtful. "There was always something that held me back when it came to it, you know. Drawing life force. Even in Northrend."

"Yep. Dat Houndslayer, he musta been weakened by da fight wit da hounds", mused Vol'Shalai, completely unfazed. He inspected his axe and nodded, satisfied that it was clean again.

Arcus shook his head and rested his head on his forelegs. "I'ma hit the hay", he declared. He felt dizzy and disgusted. He had thought he had gotten used to Darren but apparently he was wrong. Or, to be more precise, something was wrong with the Death Knight. He should try to keep his distance, for his own sake. Arcus shuddered, then he sighed sadly. It would have been nice to be friends with him.

His eyes went wide as he realized something. Maybe something was wrong with him, too. He did quite a number on those hounds. Was he becoming... a savage?

Oh, sweet Celestia, he totally was! He had to get away from Azeroth as soon as possible before he would lose it in the heat of battle and accidentally hurt his friends. Fighting enemies was one thing but this was getting way out of hoof. He had to talk to Twilight about this. He could not keep killing creatures. What if he killed a sentient being next? There must be a way to moderate this kind of stuff. Hopefully.

"It's okay, I won't be able to sleep anytime soon", Jonathan interrupted his train of thought. "Those hounds... eh, nevermind."

•°

"Darren!" Twilight searched the site of the fight, running along the paths that everyone, including the hounds, had carved into the snow.

A faint, "Over here" got her attention. Her ears twitched towards the sound. It had been muffled as if coming through a blanket.

"Where are you?"

"Inside the maggot", came the answer.

"Seriously?" She grimaced.

"Yes. Is there anything...?"

"Ah, yes, right! Ew..." She winced and eyed the body towering over her. The dead maggot still looked intimidating. The saliva was frozen by now, making the ground around the body slippery.

"Ooh, this is so disgusting", she pressed. "I'm - I'm coming in!", she promised before she would lose her courage, then stepped into the mouth of the beast, almost tripping over its teeth that filled the entire maw. She had to move slowly so she would not lose her balance on the partially frozen liquids and fall face first into the fangs. Forcing her fear and disgust down, Twilight went further into the maggot's belly. Her stomach rumbled, barely audible over the squish, squish of hoofs on maggot flesh.

"Darren?"

"Over here." His voice was clearer now.

There he was, moving around in the stinking dark. Apparently he was looking for something. His steps on the still unfrozen 'ground' indicated the direction Twilight needed to go.

"What are you doing in here?", asked Twilight, balancing on a grey, bubble-like... something that protruded from the side of the flesh tunnel.

"Looking for valuables."

"In a maggot? What valuables could possibly be... oh."

Darren dragged something into the faint light that fell in through the maggot's mouth. It appeared to be the leftovers of a previous victim. It had probably already been dead for a while when the maggot had devoured it. There was not much left except for bones and bits of armor, weapons and unidentifiable equipment.

"I have found several pieces of silver, gold and even gems so far", he reported matter-of-factly.

"I see. Well, could we leave the maggot, please? It's really hard for me to stay conscious in here."

"Certainly."

"Thanks." She smiled feebly and carefully made her way outside, her wings outstretched to maintain her balance.

•°

"Jon! Help!"

Jonathan sat up, immediately wide awake. That had sounded like Arcus. There was a lot of noise, clanging and the sharp clashing of blade against blade.

"What?" He looked around himself, gasping for air. "What?"

The blankets Vol'Shalai and Arcus had been sleeping on were empty. Instead, the two of them struggled in the hands of a group of hooded figures.

Vol'Shalai tried to wriggle himself out of his captors' grip, snarling and baring his teeth in fury. Small streams of blood ran from several wounds they had inflicted on him. He almost managed to break free from his bonds but one of the strangers used the hilt of their one-handed sword to knock the troll unconscious. His head bobbed forward and he dropped his axe. It almost fell onto the attacker's foot. She swiftly pulled it back to avoid injury, then picked the axe up.

Jonathan quickly realized that the attackers were about as tall as him, very agile and way too many. How did they manage to sneak up on them if even Vol'shalai had been taken by surprise? Right, Jonathan was supposed to keep watch.

Arcus had a hard time, too; three of the unknown attackers tied his legs together with sturdy ropes. He protested with swearwords so dirty Jonathan had not even expected ponies to know them. It was apparently especially shameful for him to get bound in this manner.

Jonathan sprang to his feet. Why did he have to doze off, this night of all nights? Talk about bad luck. Well, luck had probably nothing to do with it. They were all tired from fighting the blighthounds and the maggot.

What was he supposed to do against such an overwhelming number of skilled opponents? These were not zeppelin pirates or animals that acted on instinct. They were trained and well-rested fighters.

"Put your hands in the air!", commanded a male voice in Orcish.

Human or elf, probably an elf, concluded Jonathan finally as he slowly raised his palms. Shame, fear and anger boiled up inside of him and his face flushed.

"Who are you? What do you want from us?", asked Jonathan hoarsely. He did not get an answer.

Arcus looked over to him, struggling with his ties in panic. Where the hell were Twilight and Houndslayer?

•°

"What is it that I can help you with?", asked Darren politely while washing his loot in the snow.

Twilight pulled her eyes from the tainted valuables. "Ah, well. That. You see, there is something I need to talk to you about." She gathered all her courage and swallowed. It was time for Darren to spill the beans.

He nodded. "I was wondering when you would say something."

"You were?"

"You are very perceptive, Twilight Sparkle. When did you realize it?"

She sat down, then immediately got up again. The snow was cold. "It's been several days. Weeks, in fact."

"Good", he replied, standing up and clapping his hands together to rid them of water droplets. The air around him grew colder with every second. The snow crackled and turned into solid ice. It crawled up Twilight's legs, freezing the tips of her hooves. Her cloak became heavy as the icy dust settled on it.

Twilight's ears went down as fear gripped her heart. She took a few steps back, away from the death knight.

"Wh-what are you going to do with me?" Twilight, you stupid, stupid mare!, she scolded herself. Did you really think he would not have prepared himself? He must be more aware than anyone that it looks suspiscious when he leaves us for such long periods!

He turned his head towards her.

"Excuse me?"

"Please don't hurt me!", she pleaded in a small voice. "I didn't tell anyone anything, I swear! It's just that I want to know the reason and - and -" She lost her voice entirely and just stared at him, wide-eyed. A Fluttershy-ish wince escaped her and she conjured up a shaky forcefield.

Darren stepped closer. Twilight slipped backwards, keeping the distance between them. As he noticed her reaction, he stopped walking.

"Hurt you? You are not the one with the bug! It is the other pony!"

"What?" Twilight jumped, her eyes widening as her heart sank once again. "Arcus? What in the world are you talking about?"

"Wait", said Darren slowly. "Was he not what you wanted to discuss?"

Twilight's eyes darted left and right, looking for a way through the trees. The cold aura crawled under her skin and her teeth started chattering.

"N-n-no, not at all", she stammered.

The cold wind settled down. Darren lowered his hood.

"Bollocks", he cursed unexpectedly, rubbing his neck.

"Let's start again, if you don't mind", managed Twilight to formulate. "Why - why would you think that Arcus did something?"

"He is carrying a spying device on himself. Do not tell me that you, a high level mage, have been oblivious to this."

Twilight's limbs stopped trembling. Her shield fizzled out as she realized that Darren was not mad at her. She paced around in small circles as she thought about what he said.

"I have! I didn't notice anything strange about him at all. How is this possible?" She stopped and twirled around. "Except, of course, you might be trying to trick me. Can you prove that he has that device?"

Darren frowned. "Of course. It is a small red crystal ball, about the size of a fist. I assumed you wanted to discuss this before we decide how to proceed."

"Oh dear! I had assumed it was something he had brought from Equestria. I only saw it once when Arcus repacked his bag. He appeared surprised that it was there so I thought he just had forgotten to take it out after another journey." Twilight shook her head. "I have seen those crystals before! If I could just remember where!"

"You have?"

She glared at him. "I still need to talk about the other thing with you. But this seems to be more urgent. Where did I see that crystal before?"

The knight sat down and let his eyes wander. "It appeared to be of arcane nature. However, I do not know how those work. I am not a mage or Blood Elf after all."

"Elves! Of course!" Twilight clapped her hooves together. "I saw it in Dalaran..." She hung her head as another realization hit her. "You're right, it really is for spying. Elves might be overhearing us right now. Well, probably just Arcus, Jonthan and Vol'Shalai since they are sitting at the fire. The question is: Does Arcus know about this?"

"He did not throw the orb away."

"Yes, but maybe because he thought it was harmless. So did I; it doesn't emit any arcane energy, at least none that I can detect with my magic."

Darren huffed. "Then how do you wish to proceed?"

She sat down, this time on her cloak. "I guess we'll have to confront him, ask him if he knows anything. And if he does and actually is a spy - I really hope not - then we'll have to stop him from harming us somehow. And destroy the crystal." She tapped her chin. "We should destroy the crystal in any case."

"Agreed." He smirked at her. "You are taking this better than I had expected."

"We still don't know whether Arcus lied to us or not", pointed Twilight out. "Your conclusion that he is aware of this sounds premature to me. No offense."

Darren nodded. "None taken. You prefer to trust your friend. That is admirable. Just consider that it might also be foolish. I have taken a liking to Arcus as well but that should not cloud our judgement."

•°

"What is going on?", asked Jonathan as rough hands pushed into his back, forcing him to keep going. His hands tied with sturdy ropes, he used the time to feel incredibly stupid. He had forgotten to put up any kind of protection in case someone would sneak up on them at night.

By the way, it was hard to see anything in the dark, even though the torches of the unknown enemy lit the narrow path. He looked ahead and spotted Vol'Shalai. They had not taken any chances with the troll. Poor guy was still knocked out, lying on a small cart pulled by two horses. Next to him, Arcus tried in vain to get into a better position with his hooves bound.

"Seriously, who are you guys? And why did you take us captive?", protested the pony.

"Quiet!", said one of them, this time a female, and hit the side of the cart with her fist.

Jonathan's eyes widened. So she did not want to hurt the pony, at least not more than she had to. A possible weakness? He tried to memorize her gait and voice. She was wearing red and golden armor like most of the others and had two maces crossed on her back.

Definitely Blood Elves, he thought. "Hey, look, we are Horde like you! This doesn't make any sense! What's the charge?"

"Keep walking", said the guard next to him.

Jonathan jumped a little to adjust his backpack and sighed. They were heading towards the eastern road - at least this was the right direction.