The World as it Should Be

It was fast approaching dusk the next day when they arrived at their destination. The little hut stood defiantly against the vast ocean to the east, as if it was daring the elements to destroy it. Judging by its state, it seemed the elements had tried. The roof was covered in numerous patches, the stairs leading up to it were half broken and rotted and the poles holding it all up looked precarious at best. Like most other troll huts, it was built to be open, but the owner had put up several heavy curtains in an attempt to keep the autumn chill out.



A troll woman stepped out as they approached, holding a pot in her hand and smiling expectantly. She was tall, like all her people, with bright green hair tied on a knot above her head. Her face was covered in tribal markings, while the rest of her was covered with a simple dress of what was once white.



“Ja, I knew I'd be getting visitors sooner or latah. Sit yerselvs down and have some stew wit me.”



“You're Orlan?” Deydis asked.



“Ja, I be Orlan,” she said matter of factly.



Treris looked warily at Deydis who gave her the slightest of nods. She sat on one of the makeshift seats that surrounded the Troll's fire, while Ripper settled down next to her. The troll smiled and tossed Ripper a bit of meat, muttering something imperceptible in Orcish. The big cat purred loudly as he chewed on his treat. Deydis stood waiting for their host to sit down herself, but she busied herself over the fire with her cooking and indicated that he should sit.



“I exptcha be having some questions for me, ja?” she said with a sly smile at him.



“Yes,” he said smoothly, covering any surprise she was trying to get out of him, “I wanted to ask you about-”



“Jenarra,” she finished for him, “and Javin and Cernack, and what dey all had to do wit eachothah, right?”



He didn't make any movement, just looked at her expectantly.



She sat down and clearly looked as if she was about to tell a very important and fascinating tale, even smoothing out her hair and her dress ineffectually.



“Several years ago, dere was a Lich, Araj. He be ruling over de ruins of Andorhal, where de plague began. De Argent Dawn, de Scarlets, de Alliance and Horde, all be running in an out of dere, killing undead, burning buildings, trying to dislodge dem undead. But nothing could be done wit dat Lich sitting dere. So de Argent Dawn, dey say 'Kill him', and de Alliance and de Horde start boasting dey be in dere first.



So dere we be, a group of us, wanting to be famous. De deathstalkers say 'Do dis ting, an we can show de Alliance whose be the bettah's.' So we go to Andorhal, we kill de Scourge going in, we wanted it bad, to be de heroes who bring down de Lich. But as we get closer, we hear de sounds of fighting. Undead lay everywhere and we see dem, a group of Alliance battlin de Lich. Dey took him down just as we was coming over, he was destroyed by de Alliance while we stood dere gaping like em fish.



Dey see us, and dey smile and joke around in dere tongue, but we know what dey be sayin, 'You too slow, de Alliance has dis victory.' Cernack, he screeched like a bird and brought down de fire on dem. We all caught de madness, we attacked dem. Dey were still weak from fighting de Lich, dere healer died first, but dey fought hard. Especially de Paladin.”



She had begun to look excited, like the old blood fury was getting to her, and so she paused to drink some ale she had sitting by her before continuing.



“She was a brave one dat girl. She stood still while de others lay dead around her. She was scared, I could see it in her eyes, but she didn't let it get to her. But she was against five of us, and no healer to keep her up, so she went down, but not dead.”



Suddenly a haunted look entered her eyes and she looked away into the ocean. The sky suddenly felt darker and the air chillier. Treris, already shocked by this story, suddenly realized that the worst was yet to come and she fought the urge to move next to Deydis to be comforted. She kept her expression as neutral as possible and waited for the troll to finish her story.



“Cernack he....dat wasn't enough for him. He hated humans, he hated everyting, but humans specially, cause dat's what he was before de plague. He ordered his demon to pick her up and take her to Araj's cauldron, he threw her in. When she realized what was happening, dat's when she got scared. She begged us to get her out, before da change started, but we all stood dere, Cernack laughing like a mad ting. He was going to kill her when she emerged an undead, but den we hear de battle horns of de Scourge and left, leaving her dere.”



She took a heavy swig from her bottle and the silence grew heavy. Treris felt cold and she knew it wasn't just the night air. She felt slightly sick and wanted more than anything else to get away from here. If Deydis was feeling any disgust, he hid it well, his face was completely expressionless.



“You think this is why Cernack, Javin and Janarra were killed?”



Orlan looked up at him sharply as if he were an idiot, “Ja! I know tis, dis be revenge here. She came back for us.”



Deydis raised an eyebrow, “You...think the paladin has come back for you?”



“You tink dat crazy mon, you haven't been paying attention, de dead be everywhere.”



It was a damned good point, Treris thought, but they knew Sejova had been doing the killing.



“Was there a night elf with them?” she asked, surprised at how clear her voice could still be.



The troll looked at her sharply, with ill concealed disgust, “Dere be a male ja, but he be dead too. He died quickly.”



Something was gnawing at Treris, something she had forgotten. It was maddening, but she felt she should have figured it out by now.



“We all went our seperate ways, I tink we all felt shame for it,” Orlan continued, “cept Cernack of course, he didun care. Javin and I had been lovers, but he said he couldn't be wit me, knowing what we had did.”



“Who else was there, you said there were five of you.”



“De Druid, Tarn,” she said distractedly.



Deydis let a flicker of surprise show, and Treris remembered the large Tauren who had threatened her on the beach and then burst into his room. It was a small world wasn't it? They looked at each other, before Deydis continued, “You should go to Ogrimmar, someone is going to try to kill you.”



Orlan spit on the ground in disgust, “Dere be no where for me to hide. De Spirit of Vengeance has marked me, she be coming for me, it don't matter where it be so I will face her in my home.”



She got up and picked up the pot, which had boiled over and the food ruined, and threw its contents out onto the beach. Then she started back up to the hut, snarling as she went.



“Stay if it pleases ya,” she said, “but ya stay out here!”





As night fell, they kept the fire going and settled around it in their bed rolls in silence. Treris was still feeling cold and sick. She wasn't sure what Sejova had to do with this, but she was finding it hard to sympathize with her victims now. They had been cruel and vicious, and for what? Credit? Honor? She didn't understand.



Still, she remembered the night she and Janarra had been together. It was hard for her to reconcile the orc she had known in Stranglethorn with one who would be so callous. She had been hard yes, a bit of a mean streak, sure. But to murder and torture someone? She couldn't see that. Maybe Janarra hid it well, maybe she really felt guilty about it, maybe-



She rubbed her forehead in irritation. This was getting nowhere. She still hadn't figured out the connection to her sister, even though bells were ringing madly in her mind. Looking across the fire, she saw Deydis was staring into it with an intensity she found surprising. His face continued to be expressionless, but she saw his eyes betrayed a deep sadness.



“You didn't know,” she said quietly.



“No,” he said, not taking his eyes off the fire, “but I knew there was something. She had no problem telling me of past conquests, fights, and I knew she had been to the Plagulands, but whenever it came up she would get quiet and change the subject. I could see guilt in her eyes, but...I never realized it was so...” he left it hanging.



Understanding, Treris hung her head in thought. After a few moments she got up and sat beside him, wrapping her arms around him in an effort to be comforting. He leaned into her and took several deep breaths, as if fighting back tears. She stroked his cheek before planting a soft kiss on his forehead, followed by another on his lips. He returned her kiss and pulled her into an embrace on his lap.



She opened her mouth and let her tongue slide into his, which he welcomed enthusiastically. Her hands roamed through his dark hair, bunching it up between her fingers, feeling how smooth it was. He kissed her collar bone and neck while he quickly undid her jacket. The shock of the cold on her bare skin sent a thrill down her spine, as it contrasted sharply with the heat between them.



He laid her back on the bedroll and buried his face into her neck while his hands worked at her pants. She hummed happily and returned the favor, unlacing his quickly, quivering with anticipation. He opened up her pants only as far as necessary to enter her. Beyond the heat of sex, she could tell the cold was getting sharper and it would be easy to forget that while in the act.



She moaned as he thrust in and out of her, purring words of encouragement and praise. He propped himself up by his elbows and looked down at her, his face mere inches from her. She opened her eyes and stared directly into his and suddenly felt there was something there. More than just lust, a sort of need, possibly even love? Time seemed to stop as they stared into each other, even as they continued their lovemaking.



“Deydis,” she panted, “I-”



He cut her off with a kiss, and didn't stop. Of course, she thought, he would never admit to love. A small well of bitterness formed in her heart as she fully understood the hopelessness of the situation. Even if he did love her, as she knew she loved him, even if they weren't trying to find her sister whom he was probably going to have to kill, even with all that, he was still in the business of lying, killing or fucking his way to information, and he did it for the Horde. It would be nigh impossible to build something lasting past that, unless she was willing to defect, which she now realized, she wasn't.



This was all they would have, that look in his eyes would be the closest thing to an actual admission of love she would ever get from him. All she could do was take it for everything it was worth, and she returned his kiss with a new fierceness and passion that took her by surprise. Her arms tightened around him, as if trying to absorb him completely into her. The passion overtook him as well as he pulled her pants all the way off so he could lift up her legs and fuck her harder.



She was practically folded in half, her toes feeling the cold of the night air and goose bumps formed on her calves. Her fingers dug into his back, kneading the leather he wore desperately, while her thighs were chafing against his pants as he thrust into her. His breath was coming on hard and fast through his nose as he continued to assault her mouth with his. Their tongues wrestled and writhed against each other, just as their bodies did.



The orgasm hit her hard and fast and she coiled around him like a vine, bringing him with her. He buried himself deep with in her and she felt the hot liquid come forth as he convulsed and then collapsed onto her. They lay their for several minutes, both coming down from the passionate high.



She noticed the fire had gone down and nudged him off her. The cold hit her like a knife and she quickly pulled her pants back on, while he threw some more logs on the fire to keep it going. He then grabbed her bedroll and laid it out on top of his, before snuggling in close to her. They lay there for several minutes, her laying on her side, facing the fire, and him spooning her, his arms wrapped around her.



Treris' mind was going in every direction it seemed. From this last revelation to the story of the paladin, everything seemed a jumbled puzzle. The world suddenly seemed darker, crueler and for the first time since leaving home, she found herself longing for the simplicity of her earlier life. Maybe that's why Sejova was doing this, she thought bitterly, she was trying to force some balance and fairness into the world. Maybe she had snapped after seeing so much. Treris couldn't think of any other reason why she would want to get involved with the murder of a paladin.



The last word paladin clung to her thoughts, as if it was trying to get her attention.



And then it hit her.



“Vishina!” she said, mentally kicking herself for her stupidity.



Deydis stirred behind her and looked down at her, confused.



“What?”