The World as it Should Be

The first thing Treris did when she regained consciousness, was to throw up. Her head pounded and the wave of nausea that hit her was too much to bear and so she spent several minutes on her hands and knees retching until finally, there was nothing left to bring up. After that she had to catch her breath, before she could take in her surroundings.



It was dusk, meaning she had been out most of the day. Ripper was lying next to her, looking up at her with concerned but woozy eyes. She scratched his ears reassuringly and slowly got to her feet. Once she was able to stop the world from spinning she could see more.



Orlan was lying on the water's edge. Treris quickly made her way over, trying very hard to concentrate on not becoming dizzy again. When she got closer she could see blood was pooling all around her, dissipating off into the water. Her throat had been cut, and she was dead.



Treris dropped to her knees feeling hopelessly lost and panicky. Sejova had killed her, and she could do nothing to stop it, hell the troll had helped her. What now?



Now she had to get to Ashenvale she realized, quickly, to get to the Tauren before Sejova did.



She quickly rumaged through her bag and found her hearthstone, which she had set for Aerie Peak and quickly activated it. Seconds later she and Ripper were at the inn. Since people were coming in like this all the time, no one spared her a second glance, until she bellowed for their attention.



“I need a mage to get me to Ashenvale!”



There was a moment of silence before a gnome sheepishly raised his hand.



“I can get you to Ratchet,” he said quietly.



Treris marched over to his table and threw ten gold in front of him, “Then please, I need to go now!”







It was less than an hour later when she landed in Astranaar. She quickly looked around trying to decide where to go next. The main Horde encampment was to the east, but there was a smaller one to the Northwest, near the shore. The Tauren could be anywhere.



She briskly walked up to the nearest sentinel and asked her if she had noticed any Taurens in the area. The Sentinel looked at her as if she were suspicious and said that there were Taurens at the Horde camps, before being called off for some duty. Treris didn't know what to do, she had a good chance if she went to the Eastern camp, it was bigger and more likely where he'd be, but what if she was wrong?



“Treris?”



She spun around and saw Kaela was coming towards her, surprised and happy to see her. She ran to her old friend with a renewed sense of urgency.



“Kaela,” she said quickly taking the cook to the side, “I need to find a Tauren, a druid, Sejova is going to try to kill him.”



“Sejova?” Kaela blinked, “I-I think I saw her, she landed and rode off.”



“When?” Treris said, taking a hold of her friend, “Which way did she go?”



Kaela was startled by Treris' urgency and forcefulness, and she pointed towards the West, “T-that way, about 15 minutes ago.”



Treris pulled out the reigns for her mount and summoned it quickly. She jumped onto it and began to turn when a thought occurred to her.



“Ripper,” she said, regretfully, “no you stay here with Kaela.”



The cat looked up at her with sadness in his eyes, but she was adamant, so he curled up at the Cook's feet sulkily.



“Treris,” Kaela said quietly, fear tinging on the edge of her voice, “what's going on?”



“I'll tell you when I get back,” Treris said, and then with a smile at her friend, she took off.





She pushed her giant riding cat hard on the road to the west, the old familiar smells of Ashenvale flying by her. It hadn't changed, at all. For some reason, that brought a sense of calm and peace to her otherwise reeling mind. She could focus more on what was happening, on what she had to do. For the first time in her life she sent a silent prayer to Elune, hoping that Sejova would be delayed, that the Tauren would still be alive and that Deydis came through.



Maestra's Post appeared as the road turned downhill and she knew she was getting close. She turned the cat to the left and they crashed down the ridge, landed and kept moving. She could smell the sea and see the ruins up ahead. Expertly they avoided the wild creatures which were roaming around and finally she saw white sand beneath her. She slowed the cat down and came to a halt. The encampment was the to the South she knew, but she couldn't afford to be wrong.



Breathing deep, she felt the life of Ashenvale enter her, and she closed her eyes. She remembered that before all this, she had been a hunter first. Sejova may have been good at hiding, but she was good at finding. She listened, taking in the sounds around her, the sounds of the forest behind her, the sea, the sounds of the Naga roaming the ruins, all these she expected. It was the unexpected she was looking for.



There was something, moving off to her left. She opened her eyes and caught a flicker in her peripheral vision. Moving quickly, she went for her knife, but found herself knocked on the ground. Her arms were pinned under the knees of her attacker, who put her arm across Treris' throat. She couldn't move, but she didn't have to, she had found what she was looking for.



Sejova looked down onto her and Treris could see that she had changed immensly. Her eyes, usually calm and unreadable were full of rage, her hair was tangled and unkempt and she appeared less the cold assassin and more like a wild thing.



“What are you doing here, little sister?” she snarled.