Duality Risen

Twelve

Aljei had a good two-day’s lead on them, and signs of his passing seemed to be everywhere. More warlocks were dying, some incredibly powerful while others seemed to serve no purpose at all. Mardruk couldn’t figure out what the elf’s game was. Did he simply want to wipe out warlocks as a whole or was there some method to his madness? From Tirisfal they caught a zeppelin to Orgrimmar, and from there they slowly began to follow Aljei’s trail south toward Feralas. They encountered the typical beasts and sometimes one or two of Aljei’s constructs.

Mardruk and Serasin often took the brunt of these attacks, with Chairon acting as back up with Tyrrandal. Cassie, Nolay, Peritali, and Raichlos alternated between healing and offense, and all tried to deal with the battles quickly. Each moment they spent fighting was another moment Aljei received to cause destruction.

They met other groups who were on similar journeys, and their interactions with Alliance groups were laced with agitation. Towns welcomed their gold without question, and Chairon would put them in the right direction come morning.

Then strange things began to happen.

They would go too far in the wrong direction, or things would disappear. More than once, Mardruk felt that his life was in danger, though he couldn’t see the cause. By the time they reached Feralas, everyone’s tempers were frayed. Snapping and snarling didn’t come from Tyrrandal’s lion, but rather the bipedal members of the group.

So it stood to reason what when they encountered the yeti of Feralas, those poor yeti never stood a chance.

Aljei was running then ragged, Mardruk knew. He was probably hoping they’d give up and let him be. Mardruk didn’t care if anyone else decided to turn back – he wasn’t, not until Aljei was back in that cairn in the Barrens, or dead. Mardruk simply bulled ahead, trying to ignore the way Cassidia’s voice was grating on his nerves. The woman had the incredible ability to pick out and flaunt Mardruk’s weaknesses, and so far all the young orc had done was grit his teeth and ignore her. He wanted to hit her, shut her up, something, but he refrained, either to show he wasn’t a monster like many thought or because she’d fry him before he got close.

Chairon paused ahead of Mardruk, his green eyes focused on something off the beaten path. The lithe sin’dorei drew up, as though he was about to attack something, but he didn’t move. When Mardruk came to stand beside him, he saw what was making the rogue tense. Bodies. Ogre bodies so still and so white. Nolay put her hand to her muzzle when she saw them and made a sound of disbelief.

“What the hell happened here?” Raichlos asked, stepping forward and gauging the destruction with a critical eye.

Mardruk squared his shoulders and drew his broadsword, heading down into the destruction despite the protesting noise the shaman and druid made.

Chairon was beside him, something that made Mardruk both thankful and nervous. Slowly, the others followed them down, cautiously moving through the corpses. The only one who didn’t seem fazed was Raichlos, but then death was nothing new to the Forsaken priest. Cassie sidled up to Mardruk when he and Chairon had stopped, and she felt the blood drain from her face at what lay before them.

Chairon slipped away, silent as a shadow, leaving the pair by themselves. Had he thought himself capable, he would’ve struck then, but adding the human woman to the mix would prove far more fun.

He moved up toward the night elf Tyrrandal, and let drop one of the crystal orbs he’d persuaded Aljei to craft for him. It would awaken the ogres that escaped the wholesale slaughter further down, and it would hopefully set up the pretty trap so he could get to Mardruk easily. And with Cassidia there to blame, Chairon felt as if all the pieces had come into play and the endgame was nigh.

The blood elf wasn’t aware that inhuman eyes watched him, Tyrrandal’s lion Ekatha focused on the sin’dorei’s lithe frame. Eyes with the intelligence of its master focused on the small elf, and Ekatha warned Tyrrandal too late. As the kal’dorei hunter lunged for the sin’dorei rogue, Chairon met Tyr’s eyes and smiled. Then he let the orb drop.

Tyr stopped short and spun around, watching in horror as the ogres slowly awoke. Nolay pulled Peritali clear of a club, and Raichlos quickly joined them in their retreat. He spun and caught Cassie’s gaze. Her eyes widened and all Tyr could do was tell her to run.

Mardruk was faster; instead of retreating back toward the rest of the group, he slung a powerful arm around Cassie’s waist and leapt forward, into the path of the oncoming ogres. Despite his bulk, Mardruk was surprisingly graceful, spinning around the ogre’s stubby legs and disappearing with Cassie into the underbrush. The ogres were clearly torn between chasing after Mardruk and Cassie and chasing after Tyr and the rest.

Tyrrandal cursed and turned back toward the rogue who was now pinned under three hundred pounds of lion. Ekatha was dangerously close to biting through Chairon’s neck, but Tyr’s curt order had her moving. The hunter lunged down and grabbed the rogue, dragging him toward the high ground where Nolay and Peritali had set up a defensive position. But the ogres weren’t interested in the six that were holding their ground. Serasin stamped her hoof and thrust out her hand; a ray of light caught one of the ogres in the back, flaying him open. His companions didn’t even notice. Peritali shook herself.

“What the hell was that?” Raichlos asked.

Tyr shoved Chairon into the middle of the group. “Ask him. Our dear helpful rogue.”

Chairon grinned, a look that quickly vanished when Serasin put her sword to his throat. His green eyes turned pleasant, the grin on his face now more of a smile, but even they knew an incapacitated rogue was a dangerous rogue. The sin’dorei shrugged. “Orders are orders.”

“You were ordered to kill us?” Raichlos asked.

Chairon shook his blonde head. “Not you. Just Mardruk.”

Serasin pressed her blade a little harder into Chairon’s throat. “Who hired you?”

“Who do you think? You’re all so focused on taking him out that you walked into his trap.”

“You’re not a very good assassin, then, if your prey got away.” Nolay reasoned.

Chairon rolled his eyes. “More than one way to skin a cat.”

Tyr’s eyes flicked to Serasin. “If Cassie dies, so do you.” The kal’dorei said as he knelt before Chairon. “So let’s be sure you can’t escape before they get back.”

A dangerous gleam entered the sin’dorei’s green eyes. “You mean, IF they get back.”