Hearts and Bones

I realized that my attempts to mimic the Russian, er Draenei, accent was making it seem French rather than Russian. So I think I'll knock that off for now. Enjoy!



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I look from my position in the bushes at the small encampment of gnolls, scanning for anything that would make it worth my while to attack them. I'm not looking for treasure, but for something specific, a sign of the lost Courier, Raschel. Specifically his backpacks, which a seer believed to be in their possession. I've already passed by two other small encampments but didn't see them. Its not that I'm afraid of them in particular, I just don't want to draw attention to myself until its necessary.



Aha, I catch sight of two backpacks nailed to a tree, both with the Feathermoon emblem. Now I just need to get to them. I step out of my hiding spot and pull my totems from the earth. The Gnolls look up when I raise my arms and water cascades down my arms and forms three balls that coaslesce into one. I feel the rush of life energy and mana as I draw my weapon and shield, ready to fight.







“Dere be somtetin in dat wilderness mon,” the old troll remarks, “I send some trolls out but dey not come back.”



I finish sharpening my blade and resheath it, then I start making a check of my gear, listening to what he has to say. “Its to the southwest you say?” I ask.



“Ja, beyond da Gnoll camps dere, sometin is gotten dem all riled up.”



“Alright,” I say, putting on my helmet and summoning my mount. It appears beneath me and I turn to the troll, “I'll tell you what I find there.”



“Ja,” he says with a grin, “be careful dere mon and I git you some ale when you get back.”



I laugh as I take off towards the west, leaving the Tauren camp behind. I have found that I prefer the company of the more “savage” races of the Horde. My own people have become too enamored with their arcane paradise, and the Forsaken...I can't trust them. Its not even that they're undead, its that I know they're planning and scheming always. With the Trolls, Orcs and Tauren I feel I always know where I stand. They are honest, brutally so at times, but also understand that sometimes one must do what's necessary to survive.



I turn sharply south off the road and charge through the Gnoll encampments. They scatter when they see me coming, some howl with rage and others make a half hearted attempt to pursue, but I am unhindered in my trip. A few days ago I came down here and killed a lot of them, including their leaders, nice to see they remember me.



Towards the southern end of their territory, I come across a camp and stop. All the gnolls in it are dead, freshly so by the looks of it. I survey the site from my horse, not really wanting to take the time to examine it closely. I'm not the tracker I used to be, but good enough to see there was one person who did this. I also notice no footprints, but rather smaller hoof prints. I follow them with my eyes and see they go to the south.







This is not a good place. I should not be here.



The large insects tried to stop me from gaining entrance, but I was able to beat them down. I made sure my cleansing totem was at the ready before I entered their nest, and have already fought two more drones. I don't want to be here, but if this is where Raschel went, I have to go to. Hopefully he is still alive, but I doubt it. The cave, or whatever it is, makes me feel ill. I don't like being enclosed like this, and this is their domain.



I follow the passages, winding and twisting, up and down and soon I am lost. I try the side passages and hope that each one will bring me a clue to the missing elf, but am disappointed again and again. Panic is setting in and I stop and start breathing slowly. I must remain calm, I must find the elf, so I need to get a hold over myself. Finally I am calm again and stop to think.



The problem is, all of these passages look the same, so I don't know if I've been down one or not. So, I should mark them. I quickly go through my bags and find white chalk which I find to my pleasure, easily marks and stays on the walls. With this new strategy I begin a more efficient search.



A few bugs come by, but as a whole the hive seems unaware of my presence, or they just don't care. That is a bit unnerving actually. They don't care because they don't have to. I turn a corner and see one of the fliers headed for me. Quickly I pull up my totems and shield myself. It quickly buzzes towards me and a noxious green cloud springs from it. I step back coughing, but in an instant the Purifying totem does its job and I can see in time to block its strike. It buzzes louder and makes to sting at me, but I side step and knock it with my mace. It strikes again, but this time, I move the wrong way and the stinger grazes my arm, drawing blood. In a moment, my vision becomes blurry and I feel sluggish.



And it doesn't go away.



I spare a quick glance behind me and realize to my horror two of the burrowers have destroyed my totems. I spin half way so that I am facing all of my opponents and try to pull the totems back up, but one of the burrowers knocks me down. The other one quickly pins me down and is sitting on my chest, inches away from my face. I frantically try to throw it off, but its bulk is hard to move. The other one pins my legs and I feel something warm and wet forming around my feet.



Not good. Panic sets in and I desperately try to summon the lightening shield to me, but before I can, a sharp intense pain erupts from my stomach. I can barely see that the flier has stung me. Now everything is getting dull....and....dark.....







I really should not go down there. Its not a good place.



I think this as I manage to yank a piece of shell off the dead insect at the mouth of their hive. After all, I came, I saw, I even have samples. But something is nagging at me. The hoof prints go down into the hive, and someone could need help down there. On the other hand, they could be doing fine, and not need help. Besides, judging from the size of the tracks, its not a Tauren, so probably a Draenei, who would almost certainly not appreciate the help of a Blood Knight. Still...



With a heavy sigh, I put my helm back on and carefully make my way down. The inside of the hive would almost certainly be of interest to the troll anyways. More carcasses lie in the tunnels below, which means I can just follow them to the person ahead of me. Easy. Occasionally I see white marks on the walls, some kind of mapping I guess. The paths twist around, back, up and down. And then the trail ends. The trail of carcases stopped awhile ago, and now so have the footprints. Well what now? I shrug and keep follow the tunnel, hoping to find something further on.



I come upon one of the flying bugs, which hasn't noticed me yet. I release a seal on it, and it flies at me in a rage. I plant my feet and meet it head on. It tries to sting me, but finds it can't get past my armor. I swing my sword at it, catching it in the midsection. The shell cracks and blood oozes out. It screeches and tries to sting at me again, but this time I am able to catch it on the wing before it even connects. It tries to fly away, but doesn't get far before I run my blade through it.



I step over it and into a large chamber. Along the ceiling, I see several large fireflies illuminating the rooms, some burrowers along the walls seem to be working on expanding it, and in the center, are several large white figures. I realize that they're webbing, with probably animals, some gnolls, maybe even some people inside. Two of them are moving.







I can't see. I can't move. I struggle against whatever is holding me but can't see to get loose. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Panic has set in for real and I can't seem to get it under control. My breath is coming fast and hard and every time I breathe in I almost gag on some slick cottony substance. I'm cocooned. Oh shit. Now I am really going to panic.



Before I can stop myself, I am sobbing and trying to scream. I start struggling a new desperate to be free. I can't think, I can't move and each moment is making it worse.



Suddenly I feel air rushing in at me and I am falling free, my limbs limp after being confined for so long. Something catches me, and I vaguely aware of being lowered gently down to the ground by a pair of strong arms. I lie on the ground and breathe the air grateful to be free and getting my panic under control. Slowly I become aware of movement and noises around me and open my eyes. A night elf is being laid down next to me, he looks groggy and sick, but alive. The one lowering him down is in heavy armor, and all I can see of him is dark red hair.



“Raschel?” I say, dismayed by how weak my voice is.



They both look at me, the Night Elf looks surprised but slowly nods. The other one.



I don't believe it. What are the odds?







Really, what are the odds of running into her again?



But it is her, the Draenei who saved me in Dustwallow, Dotai. She looks as surprised as I am as she gets a good look at me. I give her a quick nod, because I really can't think of anything else, and turn my attention back to the Night Elf. He must have been in there awhile, so I channel some of my holy magics through him to purge him of the poisons that the bugs may have used. He immediately looks better, but clearly needs to get back to civilization and rest.



“We shouldn't stay here,” I say helping him to his feet, “can you walk?” I ask Dotai.



She looks up at me, groggy but better off than her friend. She nods weakly and picks herself up. I almost extend a hand to help her, but don't. She wouldn't appreciate I suspect. Even now in this situation there is bound to be some tension, me being with the Horde and her the Alliance, best not to push it.



Supporting Raschel I make my way out into the passageway, listening for the sounds of the insects. I hear faint background buzzing, but nothing nearby.



“If anything happens,” she asks, suddenly right behind me, “how many of them do you think you can handle?”



“I'm not sure,” I say honestly, “but if you can keep me standing, we should have a good shot.”



She stares at me for a moment, her face unreadable, before she nods, all business.







We don't meet much resistance on our way out. The bugs, or Silithid Raschel tells us, are mostly uninterested in our presence, unless we run into them directly. I support him while Bronal, the Blood Knight, walks a bit ahead. Once we do meet a couple of diggers, but Bronal makes short work of them. I try to help, but mostly I want to conserve myself in case we meet some real resistance.



When we step out of the hive, I take a moment to take several deep breaths, happy to be out of the oppressive atmosphere within. We keep moving until its behind us and we won't run into any more of the wasps on patrol. I carefully lay Raschel on the ground, but already he looks better. He looks up past me and says, “Thank you.”



He's referring to our rescuer, the Blood Elf and the sheer honesty in his voice makes me feel a bit ashamed. After all, this was an elf I had scoffed at before, and now he's repaid the favor. I turn around and look at him.



“Thank you,” I say, hoping to Nether that I sound as honest as I feel. To my relief he gives me a quick smile.



“Can you make it to a settlement from here?” he asks.



I nod, “Yes, I can take him on my mount, the Night Elves aren't far from here.” I stop and wonder if I should be saying this to a Horde member. He doesn't seem to notice my dismay and instead nods.



He summons his mount, smiles and rides off.







Interesting, she seems much lovelier when she's being nice.