bladedruid
01-22-2004, 06:17 PM
Lust for Vengeance
My heart was beating, beating like the war drums that I had heard for the last 3 years of my life, beating like the feet and hooves of the guys running aside me. I couldn’t imagine how long we had been running but it didn’t matter we had to get as far away from them as possible. Them, those…those bastard pirates…those merciless bastards that know no good. The tauren finally called for a stop by an outcrop of trees. We sat down and rested ourselves. I quickly gathered my thoughts about the advents that had happened this night, no of that that had happened all those years ago…
I was young, well young for a night elf, a nice young age of 7000. I lived at an outpost at the western edge of Ashenvale. I spent most of my days in the forest alone with the animals, learning from them, I was dreaming of one day becoming a High Druid, one that would assist the mighty demigod himself Cenarius. I was heart struck the day I heard that he had fallen to some raging orc. The time that I didn’t spend with nature I spent with my children and my wife. My wife…oh how I longed to be with her, I hadn’t seen her in so many years. My son and my daughter, they were my greatest accomplishment, my son was so smart and ambitious, he was heading his way right into being a great leader. My daughter was so pretty she didn’t even need to work some guy would do it for her but she was still deadly with her bow just like her mother.
Than that day came that I will never forget, the day they came, the pirates, they pillaged our outpost and murder our people. I remember the roar from the alarm post and the uprooting of the ancients as they first came. I quickly instructed my family to run into the forest to the near naval base of Lev’taras. I then headed out the door of my hut and joined the fight; I don’t remember how I fell unconscious, but I do remember it hurt. The next thing I knew I was on a boat with my hands chained to oars. The last years on that boat were a blur; I prayed to Cenarius that my family was safe but I was never sure if they had survived. I remember long nights and days upon days without food or water. FOOD!
I opened my eyes and came back to reality; I saw that the troll and the tauren that I had escaped with were still with me and hungrily eating some kind of fruit that they had found. I quickly picked one myself biting at it mercilessly. After I was done I found a small fountain and started to drink from it. After nearly empting it I sat down and stared at my comrades.
The muscular troll was called Zunan; he was a troll berserker that had been captured a few months back at a raid on the echo isles. He was, despite our situation, always optimistic. I had quickly made myself friends with him. He told me that he had been one of the best hunters in his tribe and had begun an apprenticeship by the tribe witchdoctor before he was captured.
The husky tauren was called Rupp Bleedingsun; he had been a shaman in his days before he was taken. He was even in line to become war chief, and was also about to marry. What I liked about him was his jet-black hair and his braided hair and beard. He was really something to look at.
“Hey mon, you ok?” Zunan was standing in front of me with a hand stretched out.
“Me I’m doing fine, I got a slight head wound but it works”
“Ya mon I remember, ol’ Rupp almost bashed you when he broke that hole in the “Black Blade”
Zunan was right although I hate to admit it, but the name of the ship awakened a slumbering hate within me. I quickly got back to myself and looked at Rupp
“Well Rupp you doing ok, after nearly fighting off half of the slave masters” I asked him with a big smile on my face.
“You have a lot to learn friend, we tauren have unmatched strength although when Pezral drew down his anti magic barrier your rejuvenation spell did help,” Rupp answered wisely.
A yes, Pezral the mage and second hand to the captain Rekklar, a strong orc swordsmen, he was the one that made sure none of the captives could use magic with an art anti magic shell that covered the whole ship. I remember trying countless times to transform into a bear before someone told me what was going on.
I started dreaming again. The whole slave unit had been planning for weeks to escape; little did we know that Rekklar had had a spy. We waited till after a raid on a murloc camp near the coasts of some jungle to make our escape. We were forty strong men but they were ready for us. They had used stun wards and some kind of weapon that spat fire that they had gotten from trading with dwarves. Only 14 had made it to the coast but one by one we were picked down, I decided not to transform into a bird and fly off because I knew my friends would need me. Now only we three were left with no weapons and no plan.
“So what we do now mon,” asked Zunan
“I don’t know; find some form of civilization out here.” Pondered Rupp
“This land is most likely not known to the troll or the night elves, its best we try to start some kind of home here until we can find a way to get home,” I answered.
“Maalox, that’s not a good idea they will hunt for us,” Rupp responded.
My name, I had forgotten it a long time ago, Maalox was all I remembered. It was actually some kind of short form for something but I forgot that after my bumping my head a few too many times.
“I think we should find the bastads and cut um,”
Zunan always did think in an aggressive way but he was right I would not find happiness until I had my vengeance.
Then something came from my lips that would end up being something we three would never forget…
“We hunt or get hunted!”
The next morning we woke up. It had been a pretty rough night; we eventually had to find a cave to keep out of the rain. We had slept all in a sort of huddle although it took Zunan a lot of convincing. We went outside to find the island in full bloom. In the night when we escaped I had not had time to marvel the jungle for all its beauty. I am a druid and I am dedicated to preserving all forms of life.
The trees were mostly palms although one did find a locust or two in the area which was an odd tree for a jungle. A lot of ferns scattered between the rocks and trees, moss on almost everything, and tons of honeysuckle growing in the shade.
I found a small pond covered with lilies and dove my head right in. I let the cool water cleanse my tattered face and my sore hands. I started dousing off again about what had and would happen with us.
“He Mon, we should get foragn’ soon before the sun get too high,” Zunan whispered in my ear.
“What with the whispering?” I replied.
“ Ther be bad spirits in this jungle Mon, I feel it in my blud,”
“First things first we need to acquire some weapons or something” I announced.
Zunan shook his head in disappointment “Way ahead of ya, got a crude spear made, and ol’ Rupp got a totem he been sketchin’ weird symbols in all day.”
I must admit I was impressed, even if they were my friends I am a night elf and we elves don’t have much respect for lesser races, but I am finding that we are the ones that have a lot to learn.
“Ok then I better get some kind of defense going…um I find something after we eat” I replied.
We had been walking for about half an hour and only found some berries and fruits. Me and Rupp used them as a snack but Zunan needed some meat, fresh meat, not the month old shit that we were feed back on the “Black Blade”. We had been walking by a pass when we started to get a little edgy. The jungle was too silent for our taste. I could see both of them mouthing something but I couldn’t tell what. Then it accrued to me that they were trying to remember old spells, I started drilling into my brain for some old transformations or something that could help us but I couldn’t recall anything complete, only fragments.
Out of nowhere three burly looking trolls jumped into the clearing in front and behind us. They were not the same color as Zunan who is dark blue, they where crimson red with tattoos carved all over their bodies and axes in both hands. They started talking to each other in some dialect that not even Zunan understood.
Rupp was the first to react, with a giant leap forward he swung his totem into the nearest troll. The troll leaped but not early enough and got nailed pretty hard in his leg.
The other two sprung on me and Zunan. Zunan fought back the trolls lunges with his swinging spear but I had nothing. Both Rupp and Zunan had their hands full and I was backed up to the wall; the troll was smiling with an evil grin at me…I was loosing it, I didn’t know what to do…thousands of thoughts bursting through my skull ...then suddenly it came to me.
Asdereth renniga Centruas!!!
I felt my skin explode with long brown hair, my teeth grew bigger and sharper, my bones broke and ripped, luckly my loin cloth didn’t break but only fell off, my body and limbs doubled in size…..
I became a BEAR!!!
I couldn’t believe it I was a bear, it had been a long time since I had last transformed and I wasn’t quiet used to the disarranging of the bones and muscles. I decided to test out my strength on the troll that for a few seconds was smiling and now was screaming in a form of fear and rage. I swung my gigantic paw and knocked him against a boulder. He climbed up it and sprang on me ready to drive both axes in my back. I quickly responded by flipping him on the ground. The last things he ever heard in his life were my fierce roar before I ripped him limb from limb.
I quickly turned to see my comrades were having difficulties of their own. Rupp had landed a few lucky shots but the troll was too fast for him. The troll ducked under a huge lung from Rupp’s totem and shoved an axe in his right leg. Rupp howled with a roar of pain and slammed the totem downwards to the ground. He literally squashed the troll’s leg. The troll couldn’t even walk his left leg was just flesh and broken bone, totally useless. Rupp then swung his totem one last time and ended the fight.
We both turned around to find that the last troll and Zunan were missing. Suddenly you could hear screams of rage coming out of the cliffs above. We turned around shocked to find at least twenty trolls standing on the cliffs looking down at us. We then saw Zunan collapsed on an edge of the cliff being stood on what appeared to be the tribe leader, a skinny shadow hunter covered with tattoos, burn marks and scars, and what a snake crawling up and down his arm.
By this time I was already transforming back into a night elf, the pain wasn’t that bad changing back. The leader began talking in some language I had never heard before; it seemed as if he was questioning his men, especially the berserker that was from the original encounter.
“What do you here?” He could talk! To our surprise the leader could talk, which was a good because then we could maybe come to some kind of agreement.
“What do you here!?!” he repeated.
“We are travelers searching for some kind of civilization,” I responded hastily.
“You kill two our men, we kill two too,” he demanded
“He’s out of his mind,” Rupp whispered, “These guys are canalizes, they won’t let anyone escape, they would hunt the survivor down. We best think of something”
I wish I had known what to do but we weren’t going to leave Zunan behind. Maybe we could’ve bargained with something but we had nothing. Then it occurred to me that most tribes, even if they were insane, still held to honor lines strongly.
“I got it, we need to challenge the leader,” I whispered to Rupp.
“Ok, are you the leader of these trolls,” I asked the Shadow hunter.
“Yes, yes, I am, I am Rijiki,”
So it’s got a name, I whispered under my breath.
“Ok…Rijiki, I would like to challenge you, if I win we go free, if you win, you can do what the hell you want with us,” I could tell this angered him, I just hoped he took the bait.
“Rijiki does not have fear from no man, come and we fight,”
“If you are afraid of no man then why do you not fight my friend here,” I pointed at Rupp who made some kind of funny pose showing off his muscles.
“Rijiki is crazy, but not stupid, I fight with enemy troll, we duel in one hour, at river down south,” he used a scimitar he was holding to point out a river that was flowing off in the south which was in the area of where we were traveling toward. He then turned around and started walking back into the thick of the jungle, his men followed and left Zunan.
We quickly climbed up to Zunan; he had regained consciousness and was leaning on a rock holding his head in his hands.
“What happened,” I asked.
“I had that Mon but he ran off into the jungle, I followed and then they popped out of nowhere, I couldn’ do nothing Mon,” Zunan responded. He seemed to be ok, he was only bruised a little no big flesh wounds, although his spear was broken. We all strolled to the river to see what awaited him.
While Rupp took care of some herbs to help heal Zunan and make him feel a little livelier, I went down the bank to explore a little. I could see that the trolls had sentries staying hidden in the trees to spy on us; they were pretty good but not good enough to hide from a night elf. The aquatic life was amazing, many different kinds of fish, turtles, and crabs. One turtle in particular interested me, he was a light green but his shell was yellow, red, and black in a sort of zigzag pattern. It started wobbling off trying to get to some shade. It lead me to a small cave by the bank covered with beautiful ferns and vines…it made me start to think about my family until I discovered something hanging out of the cave. It was a blade, finely crafted strong but yet something told me not to touch it, I had seen such a blade before. I used a leaf to extract the blade from the cave; it turned out to be a glaive, a huntress glaive!
“What was such a thing doing here,” I asked myself aloud. I was afraid it would be poisoned, I had known an alchemist back in Lev’taras, he had taught me that the poison on glaives last a lifetime but can be washed off by water easily. I took some leafs and molded them in a type of glove and used it to wash the blade clearly off, although I didn’t know what to do with it. I am a druid I don’t know how to use a glaive, I would probably hurt myself, but maybe Zunan would be able to put it to use. I hurried back to my friends…
When I got their Rijiki was already there with two burly looking berserkers acting as bodyguards. Rijiki was wielding his scimitar from earlier and his snake was crawled around some small wand that was hanging from his belt. He had some red paint put over his skinny but muscular body. I believe I underestimated him when we first encountered him on the cliffs. I could tell he was a seasoned warrior by a particular tattoo he had on his back with a many slashes probably indicating kills.
I ran over to Zunan and showed him the glaive. “Hey Zunan, here I found this, do you think you can wield it?”
“hmmm… maybe Mon I don’t kno’, you night elves got some weird weapons…I try it,” he replied.
“We gona start now or what?” Rijiki was getting impatient.
“Let’s do this,” Zunan spat on the ground in front of Rijiki. Rijiki simply smirked at Zunan friendly.
“Follow me,” one of the bodyguards stepped forward.
He lead us to a turn in the river where logs where all stuck in the river to make a path from side to side. The wood seemed sturdy but if someone wasn’t careful they would probably fall off and this part of the river had some pretty strong rapids that would rip even a mountain giant apart. If a person was going to fight on this they better be flexible, which made Zunan the good choice anyway. Zunan stepped onto the first log and waited for Rijiki to appear. After a few moments of waiting Rijiki appeared on the other side of the riverbed, he stood standing there for a moment seeming to meditate.
Suddenly he made an impressive backwards flip onto the middle log. My jaw hit the floor; I had no idea that such uncivilized creatures could be that dexterous; at the same moment I could hear Zunan gulp and swear under his breath before yelling,
“Lets do this!!!”
It had begun. The duel that would decide our fate and the rest of our lives was happening right before my eyes. I watched as Zunan and Rijiki stared at each other trying to find a weakness and test their opponent. The first move was done by Zunan; he leaped onto the nearest log and made a crouch balancing perfectly on the same space. This surprised me I never knew how agile my friend really was but I knew now that this wasn’t going to easy for the both of them.
Zunan stood up from his crouch and leapt from log to log trying to get to Rijiki which had changed to a defense position.
Zunan landed within three meters of Rijiki and then made a gigantic lunge forward trying to split his opponent in half. At the last second Rijiki jumps to the side landing safely and countered with a slash at Zunan’s back. Luckily Zunan had used so much strength in his lunge that the glaive was stuck in the wood. He scrambled to get some footing on the stump when he turned around to see Rijiki’s counter.
Zunan ducked in time and lost only some hair on his lush Mohawk. Rijiki made a backwards flip to the middle of the arena where more room was to move around.
“Haha…weapon stuck?” Rijiki smirked.
Zunan scrambled and pulled on the glaive but to no avail, it was stuck.
Rijiki hopped back to where Zunan was and kart-wheel kicked him on his torso.
Zunan growled with rage, he leapt back onto the stump and with on big thrust yanked the glaive from it’s place.
Rijiki made a pace backwards surprised by Zunan’s strength.
Zunan made a roll forward and tried to sweep Rijiki off his feet but Rijiki sprang to the stump behind him.
Rijiki surprisingly then jumped to one of the edge logs right at the waterfall.
“What could he be up to,” I whispered to Rupp who also seemed confused.
Rijiki then made some kind of pose and fell into some kind of trance.
Zunan didn’t waste any second, he jumped from log to log to right in front of him and made a thrust forward with the glaive intending on impaling his opponent, until suddenly something happened, a gigantic snake head shot up in front of Rijiki and bit Zunan on his arm. Zunan jumped back in pain instinctively and started sucking on the wound and spitting out all the poison.
The snake head disappeared and Rijiki came out of his trance.
“Do you see know you don’t gota chance Mon,” Rijiki spat.
“I’m better than you think,” Zunan lunged forward seeming to fall off his log but held himself with his legs. Zunan then rammed the post that Rijiki was standing on as hard as he could.
The post shook loose and fell into the depths of the waterfall taking Rijiki with it.
“Not that smart that one was,” Zunan laughed and started hopping back to the shore.
Both guards didn’t seem to be taken aback by what had just happened, something wasn’t right
“Zunan behind you!!” I screamed.
Zunan swung around just in time to get Rijiki’s foot right in his face.
Zunan flew backwards almost breaking his back on a log.
Rijiki stood over him wielding his scimitar about to impale his adversary.
“Its over,” Rijiki grinned.
WHOOSHH!!! Black smoke swallowed the two trolls and hazed the whole arena.
When it finally cleared you could see Zunan standing with one foot on a crippled dead Rijiki wielding a scimitar in his stomach.
“He not the only guy with secrets,” Zunan chuckled.
It was over, Zunan had won.
The guards that had been watching us were appalled the second they saw Rijiki lying there dead impaled through the chest with his own scimitar but seemed to except it. When Zunan got down from the posts a bulky berserker came to us.
“You have killed Chief, now you decide what happens, I be the second in charge here and will escort ya to the nearest town…bi’ da way my nom be Stazar,”
“We be honored if ya took us to the nearest town,” Zunan answered.
We all decided to let Zunan do the talking because they respected him, but I didn’t know about me and Rupp. It was about midday and we were all especially Zunan after having his big fight. We decide to climb down beyond the waterfall and find a cool spring to rest ourselves. Stazar guided us to a particularly warm spring with mango trees growing all around it and some very friendly colorful birds that Stazar referred to as Peacocks, strange name don’t you think? We spent a good hour there soaking up the sun and healing our wounds with a weird troll concoction that we had to eat; your mouth and throat would burn for a few minutes but afterwards would make you feel as if you were a new man.
I spent most of my time talking with Stazar about his people, I was surprised to find out how civilized they really were. They had their own villages off on the cliffs near the waterfall where no one could find them. They had eradicated cannibalizes a long time ago and were mostly vegetarians but the few that ate meat at mostly fish from the river. Stazar explained about the town that he was going to take us to. Puskaraz, a mostly trading town with plenty of opportunities to travel and earn money, was only five or six hours away. What disturbed me is that this town was ruled by a human who was quiet fond of gladiators and that slave trade also existed there. We would have to be careful; we might even meet up with our old “friends” from the “Black Blade”. If we met Rekklar and Pezral again they would slit our throats before we could even say “how much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood”. That’s just an old night elf saying.
We broke out going down the river with some canoes that we had barrowed from the Trolls. We made our way downstream with little difficulty besides the fact that a tauren like Rupp can get easily sea sick and rocks the boat by moving one finger. We arrived at a pass that was almost completely shaded off by gigantic trees. At this point Stazar told us all to be silent and not to make any sudden movements. The area that we were in seemed to decay as we entered it. Things were turning black; the smell of dark magic was in the air, almost as if the burning legion had been here.
“Stazar what is this place....”
“Shhhhhh, you fool, we don’t want to wake them,” Stazar whispered.
“Wake what,” I asked.
Suddenly thousands of bats came out and overwhelmed the canoes. I was waving my arms everywhere to evade getting bitten or worse. All around me I only saw blackness I didn’t know what was happening to the other guys because the insects and bats screeched so loud I could barely make out the screams of my comrades. I didn’t know what to do they were starting to pick at my limbs and were scratching my face.
“Yuhananza l’upotat gwarthet”
I felt my bones brake and my organs twist…my arms and legs started sprouting with feathers. My face formed a beak…my teeth seemed to disappear as my limbs seemed to shrink together. I grew claws on my feet which bended backwards and my eyes seemed to see a lot clearer now.
I was a storm crow….I was amazed at how fast I could fly…it was incredible. I turned around to see that the swarm was following me… I felt this energy come alive inside me; it went from my head to the tips of my wings….I made a gigantic thunder strike.
It shot through the swarm tearing it in half.
Although the swarm retreated to the black part of the river again I was feeling very dizzy…..I suddenly felt my body changing again…..I dropped from the sky.
Rain, it was raining, I could feel it on my face….I was alive, barely, I tried to move but it hurt too much, my ribs, arms and legs were broken. I was lying on top of an old palm tree. I was in druid form again, every breath I took hurt all I could do was think. What had happened, was that swarm that had attacked us, how long had I been unconscious, and why was something crawling up my leg. It was a python.
”Shit,” I whispered to myself, I didn’t know what to do now, this was probably the end for me. Maybe if I used my rejuvenation spell….
“Tylasa Oplono chzaka”
My body seemed to start to glow; the snake immediately crawled off me into the thick of the tree. I could feel my bones jerk back into the right places, my torn muscles started to mend themselves, and my pulsating headache seemed to disappear.
I was as good as new; I decided to test my strength and climb to the top of the palm to get a view of the area. When I got to the top I was almost horrified of what I saw; the jungle had turned into a gigantic storm. The wind was howling, dark clouds filled the sky, I could see a town near the shore which was most likely Puskaraz, I could see a clearing off to the south. Everything around that area seemed to be dying; the trees were all burnt, the land that I could see was covered with some kind of green eerie ooze that seemed to life, there were graves littered around some kind of totem all decorated with symbols and runes I saw two demonic looking creatures circling above the clearing.
I made my way down the tree, it was astounding how high this palm really was, at least 10 meters high and with strong winds it wasn’t easy. When I got down I could see that the land had dramatically changed, the lush green plants were being engulfed by the black ooze, corrupted to a dark purple and loosing their former beauty. I made my way towards the clearing with caution, trying not to alert the two fly creatures. I found spot where I could easily survey the entire area without much trouble.
The graves were all open and empty, nothing but bone and ash left. I could see Rupp tied to some unholy shrine that seemed to sprout out of the ground in the middle of all the graves. Zunan and Stazar were both lying unconscious next to each other on top of a pile of broken tombstones. In front of the shrine completely lifeless I could make out a statue, it seemed to be in the form of a creature that I had seen back when the scourge conquered my outpost, they were called dreadlords…I think. The only possible danger I could see were the two flying monstrosities above me. I climbed up on a rock lying amongst the palms that gave me a clear entrance to the sky.
“Yuhananza l’upotat gwarthet”
This time the pain wasn’t that bad, my muscles and bones seemed to arrange themselves without much dilemma. I flapped twice hard against the air and then shot in the air. The two creatures noticed me immediately and flew towards me. These creatures didn’t seem to be too large; they had big bulgy eyes, sharp teeth making them an excellent anti air unit, pathetic wings, and some sharp claws on the ends of their feet.
The first one jolted forward and tried to latch his claws into my side, I made a barrel roll out and turned and struck him with a badly aimed lightning bolt. The bolt merely simmered the tip of one of its wings, making it angry. The second one came out of nowhere and latched itself onto my back. I screeched as it buried its teeth into my back. In the midst of all the pain I was able to concentrate a bolt and fend off the first one which approaching me from the front. I then made a deep plunge still being captivated by the hideous monstrosity. It wouldn’t let go, and I wouldn’t pull up, I could smell its fear but I was determined. We both plunged head on into the depths of the river.
I looked around me; my wings were useless in the water, what I could do…I could see the creature lifelessly float to the bottom of the river, dead. I used my powers to turn back into my night elf form but I still didn’t have enough strength to stop from drowning. I started fading away; the last things that came to my mind were some old words that I couldn’t understand…
My eyes opened, where I was, was I dreaming. I looked around me; I was underwater, I could only see seaweed and corals around me. A group of brightly colored rainbow fish swam close to me, but as soon as they noticed me they rushed away in all directions…wait why could I now breathe? I looked down to see two wet paws with small sharp claws to both sides of me.
They belonged to me!?!
I turned around to see a long thin flabby tail floating behind me.
I had become an otter.
I quickly swam to the top of the river and looked around, nothing suspicious going on. I swam onto the bank and dried off. The sky was still pitch black and the forest was still being infected by the green ooze. The water seemed to still be pure, but for how long I did not know. I used my newly found regenerating powers to make me feel like new.
I decided to change into my hawk form because that way I could find the clearing easier, hopefully the second monstrosity wasn’t still flying around. When I got there nothing really had changed, except there was a new statue near the shrine. Rupp, Zunan, and Stazar were still unconscious and the runes were still on the graves. I risked walking right into the clearing; it seemed no one was around although the closer I got to the statue; the more it reminded me of the monsters that had attacked me earlier. I got to Rupp and untied him and then went over to the trolls to untie them…
“CRRRaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrRrrr”
“Watch out Maalox!”
Boom! I turned around to see Rupp slamming his crude totem against the now living statue, now I recognize the creature, it was a gargoyle.
The gargoyle seemed to jolt before Rupp pulverized it to death.
Zunan and Stazar came to themselves slowly.
Something was wrong, I could sense something unholy coming closer. I looked toward the forest to see a 2 ½ meter tall dread lord come darting out upon us.
“I am Protesucus, and you will all die now!”
There he stood. In front of our small party stood a gigantic monstrosity glaring down at us with rage and contempt. I couldn’t help but notice a touch of excitement in his figure, as if he had not had contact to others in a long time. His figure was quite impressive at that. His body was covered in some kind of demonic armor that was tainted in bright red. On the breastplate of the armor there was a symbol of the burning legion that was common for commanders to wear. His arms were also protected by bracers that were also tainted in red. His hands as well as his whole body were muscular. His legs were think and powerful with a set of sharp nails at both ends of his feet. His face was horrific, he had a malefic nose and his lips were cracked and cut in many places. His beading eyes were small and black, and his ears long and sharp like that of a night elf. To top it all off he was bald with only two grimacing horns protruding from his skull.
“I don’t know what you’re doing here...” he started to speak again, his voice radiating with darkness.
“…but you will never leave here!”
“I am Protesucus, a dread lord that served in the invasions of thousands of worlds. I fought creatures, demons, wizards that you could not imagine. We conquered over all and sucked the magic and life from everything that we touched. As I heard we were returning to the land known as Azeroth to complete what we started years ago I thought not much more of it than any other mission. The Legion had never had a strong opponent so why worry, right? Little did I know…..” as he ranted on about his story I could see that Rupp and the others were clenching their weapons and surveying the situation, I too checked my surroundings but made sure that I still seemed to be listening.
“Hmmm…Archimonde was a fool to send me off like this. He ordered me to fly here in search of some old dragon named Deathwing, but all we found was a gigantic maelstrom that swallowed me and my gargoyles up. When I awoke…I found myself stranded on this accursed island with a broken wing…” as he said this he revealed his wings, one strong and large the other diminutive and decrepit.
“I found only two of my gargoyles left luckily they could regenerate throw their statue form...”
Suddenly the statue standing beside him burst into the monstrosity that it depicted. The gargoyle perched itself on top of the healthy wing of Protesucus.
“Unfortunately I had no portals left; all I could do was make myself a little home here. The native trolls and ogres that inhabit this island have made my life troublesome the last few decades but I was able to keep them at bay and learn a few tricks from them. The port town of Puskaraz also didn’t make my life easier…there was a platoon of bandits that had hunted me for months but through my strength and corruption of the shadows I killed them all one by one…..And now after so many years I have found a way to heal myself…but for that I need blood…night elf blood.
I felt my heart skip, he wanted me and nobody else but I even in my bear form would have no chance against him, I could see my comrades come around me, arming themselves with what they had. Rupp puffed out his gigantic chest wielding his totem pole and chanting some old tauren spell. Stazar grab forth a javelin and cast something. As this happened a ward appeared in front of us but then seconds later disappeared. Zunan pulled out his glaive and I transformed myself into a bear.
Protesucus didn’t seem at all threatened by us. He jolted forward about to grab Zunan when suddenly the ward appeared again. Protesucus froze on the spot; you could even make out the twinkle of surprise on his eyes as he stood their motionless. We didn’t waste any time. Through Rupp’s chant I could feel my agility was changing, I could attack faster than normal. Zunan drove his glaive into an unprotected part of Protesucus’ thigh. I mauled him straight to the ground and Rupp pulverized him with his totem. Protesucus laid there still lifelessly until the affect of the ward finally subsided. “RAAAARRR”
The gargoyle drove its fangs into Stazar and tried flying off with him. Zunan jumped onto the gargoyle trying to jab at it with his glaive but its wings got in his way.
I turned around to see Protesucus holding Rupp’s totem in his hands and Rupp lying on the ground unconscious on the ground. I sprung on Protesucus mauling him onto the ground; as I raised my paw to maul him in the face his eyes shot open glowing a blinding white. I was literally thrown off of him by thousands of locusts. They ripped at my flesh with their claws and fangs devouring me it felt like the end…
GRAAAARRR!! I burst out a screeching roar. I could feel the inner fire within me burst out. The locusts all burst into flames around me. All I saw was red; my heart was pounding like wild this was more than just my roar affecting me.
I turned to face my enemy, everything else didn’t matter; neither the scream of the gargoyle nor the grunt of Stazar and Zunan as they fought it. I could only see Protesucus as he came towards me. I roared toward him baring my teeth as I approached him. He tried to jump but I sank my teeth into his leg. He let out a howl with terror before digging his claws into my back. I let out a terrifying snarl and started charging toward the gigantic shrine in the middle of the field while dragging Protesucus along with me. He tried his best to hold on but I ran with such haste that he let go and let me drag him. Big mistake. I started swinging him around crashing him into the very graves that he himself had put other into. Next I threw him on my back in an art saddle position. I used every ounce of reserved strength and plunged into the shrine. We both fell to the ground hardly moving. I could no longer stay in bear form I transformed back into my druid form. I found a rusty dagger lying by my side that must have been dug up while I was stampeding the graves. I strutted over to where Protesucus was lying at the foundation of the shrine. I grabbed his collar with both hands and shook him back to consciousness.
“Any last words….maybe to his majesty Archimonde…ohh wait I bet you didn’t know that he is now dead right?”
I could see the rage in his eyes as he heard this but he didn’t say a thing; all he did was let out one last silent scream upon the sky before closing his eyes forever.
I turned around and smiled at my comrades, who were all sitting down and fixing their wounds, but they were not looking at me, they were watching the sky which was bursting from its pitch black clouds into a bright green….
The skies were bleeding red. Moments ago the sky was still a depressing gray and now it was a magnificent blinding crimson. The forest seemed to awaken with this new found light source entering the chilling night. I could see birds flying in flocks toward the coasts to get away from the burning sky. The once oozing ground was now turning its natural brown again and even small patches of grass were emerging. Still something was not right, why was the sky so red. There was something forming in the atmosphere, something large.
”We should get out of here mon,” whispered Zunan growing more impatient with every second that passed by.
“I think…I think your right,” I stuttered, I couldn’t take my eyes off the form in the sky. It was burning a gorgeous green; it reminded me of my wife’s eyes that I so longed to see again. Rupp came over to me and pushed me eagerly.
“We must get out of here, that thing is heading straight towards us…must be some sort of spell from Protesucus”
“Ok quick back to the river, I noticed the canoes stuck between to boulders back by the spot were we were first attacked.” I answered still fixated on the burning object.
We started off in a bit of a hustle but as soon as we spotted the thing coming closer it was every man for him.
Zunan and Stazar were the obvious leaders being seasoned hunters used to running for days without end. Rupp, being a tauren, had slight lead on me despite his age and weight. It was hard to see where I was treading, having to look at his black fleece the whole time. As I ran I would also take a quick peer back to see where it was, by now it was already within a half a kilometer of impact. Slip!!! I unexpectedly lost me footing on a rock in front of me and flew to the ground hitting my chin hard on a pebble. I moved my hand to my chin checking for blood. Luckily it only injured my pride nothing more. I peered up to survey my surroundings. I was in a small clearing with only a few flat boulders protruding from the ground. I could hear the river flowing cleanly about 60 meters away. Beside me a snake was slithering toward the river, it seemed almost frightened of something. I immediately returned to reality as the comet reentered my mind. I stood up analyzing the situation. Rupp and the two trolls had stopped dashing about 10 meters in front of me staring into the oblivion above them. I turned around to see the burning rock right in front of me. I could feel its intensity scorching my eyes. It hit. My eyes went black. I was lying on the ground again. I could smell a foul essence in the air. I could only hear a pounding shriek in front of me. Something else was bothering me, I was sweating, and something near me was burning! I regained my consciousness and looked up. A gigantic golem-like creature was standing in front of me looking direct at me. It was at least fifteen meters tall and at least 5 meters wide. It was made completely of rock but there was a difference from the golems I had seen in Ashenvale forest. It was on fire! I looked around me to see my comrades trying hard to get to there feet. This “Infernal” was looking around seeming to search for something. Maybe it was wondering where the dread lord that had conjured it was hiding; I would hate to break the news to him.
“For the Earthmother!” Rupp bellowed as he rammed his horns into the leg of the monstrosity.
“CraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaA!!!” It burst out with flames boxing Rupp to the ground with its right arm. Zunan used his chance and climbed up the arm despite the everlasting immolation that was surrounding the creature. He thrust his glaive into the blazing eyes of the infernal to no avail. The creature burst into fury waving its arms in all directions knocking my companions to the ground. It let out a holler of triumph and turned to me. I knew I didn’t have a chance against it so I ran. I couldn’t describe the fear and shame that I was feeling. I was a seasoned warrior as such I did not step down from any challenge, but this time it was different. I didn’t know if my companions were still breathing or not but I knew I could not save them now. I could feel the quake of its footsteps behind me; it became more intense with every stride. I was only a sheer leap away from the river as it grabbed me. Its colossal grip was straining the life out of me. The fire was cooking my skin; I had never felt such pain in my life…
“For Pandaria!!!”
A roar came out of the forest. I looked around to see what was going on but could not see over the smoldering flames. Suddenly the Infernal jolted forward. I looking in awe into its facade as it looked around in surprise. Again the enormous golem jerked forward this time falling waist deep into the sparkling waters of the stream. The Infernal started screaming in dismay as it tried to free itself from its watery prison. Its flames started to dampen as it fell apart. I was still locked fixed in its grasp as it let out one last deafening cry before completely collapsing into heaps of ash and stone and sinking to the streams bottom. The hand still seemed to grip me firm as it landed on the bank ramming me into a boulder, making my world go black.
I could feel my spirit float off into endless fantasy and dream. I was floating on top of clouds watching myself lay there unconscious. I recalled what had happened in the past week that had brought me to such an end. The years that I had spent on the “Black Blade”, the horrible hardships I had to go through under captain Rekklar and his mage Pezral, the escape, the trolls, Zunan’s duel with Rijiki, the time we spent with Stazar rafting and learning about the jungle, and how we first got ambushed by Protesucus’ carrion swarm. My dreams then turned to happier places like my hometown, the forest there that I had spent countless hours in, and my family that might or might not be alive. I started hovering down from the clouds towards our hut in the thick of the ancients that protected our town. I seemed to phase through the roof not that that bothered me at all. I saw my two children playing peacefully with some harmless wooden staves by the fireplace. The room had been decorated for an Elfish holiday that we call “Weihnachten” with a pine tree in the middle covered in ribbons and candy. My wife was sitting in her favorite wooden chair that I had hand crafted for her on her last birthday reading an old novel. She was beautiful. Her eyes were such a bright green, her hair so long and elegant. She seemed to sense something; she looked left and right before looking straight up directly at me. We seemed to stare at each other; both of us filling with anxiety. She reached out with her hand trying to reach me. I hesitated for a moment before reaching out for her. I was finally happy. But suddenly we seemed to grow farther and farther apart. The room became cold and dark and she seemed to get smaller and smaller. Her smile turned into a look of dismay as I was sucked out of the hut back into the sky. Stars were spinning around my head I had no clue as to what was going on.
I opened my eyes. I first thing I noticed was the pounding headache and the muscle cramps from being squeezed from the Infernal. There was a puddle of my drool on the ground and sand in my mouth. Then I saw something that I did not intend to see. A hand, but I was not of tauren or troll kind. It was furry and was black and white. It reminded me of a bear paw; burly and muscular.
“Yous could use some of ma Ale,” a massive pandaren was grinning in my face. He was something to look at; he had broad shoulders and thick legs but was actually rather tall. He wore a light green mantle covered with incantations and pink lilies. On his rather large head he wore a hat made from young bamboo which was formed in a rather flat shape. In the hand that wasn’t trying to help me up he firmly held a staff made of bamboo. He helped me up and padded my back with a smile.
“You lucky I find you all, yes yes” the panda chuckled. He seemed friendly enough for my standards but I decided to press some information out of him.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Toko Honeybrew, a Brewmaster and inventor of Frizzy beer to your service.”
“Why are you here, why did you help us, and why is it called “Frizzy” bear?”
“First, I travel from port to port finding new herbs for me brew. Second, sorry I thought you guys could use a little help so I rammed it in da river, with da help from this biggy beast here, Rupp was it? And third, when you drink it ya get all Frizzy,” Toko started dancing around singing some old lyric about his infamous brew.
“Do you want to escort us to Puskaraz?” I asked patiently.
“Nothing to it mate dance along,” he grabbed Zunan by the arm trying to show him the moves.
“Come on be serious for a moment,” I declared, he stopped dancing and turned to me.
“Why be serious laddy, it only leads to depression; yes I will come with ya, you got room in your canoes?” he giggled.
“Of course we have room but first we need to eat,” I uttered.
“Then you be in for a treat friend!”
And he was right. We all sat down below a young mango tree and rested ourselves. Toko took out a blanket and unpacked his bag. He had jars full with honey and conservatives, bread with butter, and even some dried meat. While we ate he twitted around with his brew, throwing in herbs and picking a few mangos squeezing them into one big jug. After we had all stuffed ourselves he let us have a taste of his new brew “Mango craze”. It was quiet sweet but still strong, a real punch in the ribs if you weren’t prepared. Toko told us about his adventures, some silly, some dangerous, and some seemed a little made up but we all had fun anyway.
After taking a midday nap we all got our gear together and climbed into the canoes. We paddled along for two hours or so admiring the beautiful jungle in its peaceful state. After rowing our way thorough some curves we finally reached the ocean. Puskaraz was a mere day’s march away from our current position so we decided to take it slow. Stazar’s mission to take us here was complete and he said he had to return to his tribe which was awaiting him to take Rijiki’s old place as chief. We all gave him a warm farewell and waved him goodbye until he disappeared into the jungle. Now it was only the four of us in your quest to wreak vengeance on your old masters and find peace and happiness in our old homes.
My heart was beating, beating like the war drums that I had heard for the last 3 years of my life, beating like the feet and hooves of the guys running aside me. I couldn’t imagine how long we had been running but it didn’t matter we had to get as far away from them as possible. Them, those…those bastard pirates…those merciless bastards that know no good. The tauren finally called for a stop by an outcrop of trees. We sat down and rested ourselves. I quickly gathered my thoughts about the advents that had happened this night, no of that that had happened all those years ago…
I was young, well young for a night elf, a nice young age of 7000. I lived at an outpost at the western edge of Ashenvale. I spent most of my days in the forest alone with the animals, learning from them, I was dreaming of one day becoming a High Druid, one that would assist the mighty demigod himself Cenarius. I was heart struck the day I heard that he had fallen to some raging orc. The time that I didn’t spend with nature I spent with my children and my wife. My wife…oh how I longed to be with her, I hadn’t seen her in so many years. My son and my daughter, they were my greatest accomplishment, my son was so smart and ambitious, he was heading his way right into being a great leader. My daughter was so pretty she didn’t even need to work some guy would do it for her but she was still deadly with her bow just like her mother.
Than that day came that I will never forget, the day they came, the pirates, they pillaged our outpost and murder our people. I remember the roar from the alarm post and the uprooting of the ancients as they first came. I quickly instructed my family to run into the forest to the near naval base of Lev’taras. I then headed out the door of my hut and joined the fight; I don’t remember how I fell unconscious, but I do remember it hurt. The next thing I knew I was on a boat with my hands chained to oars. The last years on that boat were a blur; I prayed to Cenarius that my family was safe but I was never sure if they had survived. I remember long nights and days upon days without food or water. FOOD!
I opened my eyes and came back to reality; I saw that the troll and the tauren that I had escaped with were still with me and hungrily eating some kind of fruit that they had found. I quickly picked one myself biting at it mercilessly. After I was done I found a small fountain and started to drink from it. After nearly empting it I sat down and stared at my comrades.
The muscular troll was called Zunan; he was a troll berserker that had been captured a few months back at a raid on the echo isles. He was, despite our situation, always optimistic. I had quickly made myself friends with him. He told me that he had been one of the best hunters in his tribe and had begun an apprenticeship by the tribe witchdoctor before he was captured.
The husky tauren was called Rupp Bleedingsun; he had been a shaman in his days before he was taken. He was even in line to become war chief, and was also about to marry. What I liked about him was his jet-black hair and his braided hair and beard. He was really something to look at.
“Hey mon, you ok?” Zunan was standing in front of me with a hand stretched out.
“Me I’m doing fine, I got a slight head wound but it works”
“Ya mon I remember, ol’ Rupp almost bashed you when he broke that hole in the “Black Blade”
Zunan was right although I hate to admit it, but the name of the ship awakened a slumbering hate within me. I quickly got back to myself and looked at Rupp
“Well Rupp you doing ok, after nearly fighting off half of the slave masters” I asked him with a big smile on my face.
“You have a lot to learn friend, we tauren have unmatched strength although when Pezral drew down his anti magic barrier your rejuvenation spell did help,” Rupp answered wisely.
A yes, Pezral the mage and second hand to the captain Rekklar, a strong orc swordsmen, he was the one that made sure none of the captives could use magic with an art anti magic shell that covered the whole ship. I remember trying countless times to transform into a bear before someone told me what was going on.
I started dreaming again. The whole slave unit had been planning for weeks to escape; little did we know that Rekklar had had a spy. We waited till after a raid on a murloc camp near the coasts of some jungle to make our escape. We were forty strong men but they were ready for us. They had used stun wards and some kind of weapon that spat fire that they had gotten from trading with dwarves. Only 14 had made it to the coast but one by one we were picked down, I decided not to transform into a bird and fly off because I knew my friends would need me. Now only we three were left with no weapons and no plan.
“So what we do now mon,” asked Zunan
“I don’t know; find some form of civilization out here.” Pondered Rupp
“This land is most likely not known to the troll or the night elves, its best we try to start some kind of home here until we can find a way to get home,” I answered.
“Maalox, that’s not a good idea they will hunt for us,” Rupp responded.
My name, I had forgotten it a long time ago, Maalox was all I remembered. It was actually some kind of short form for something but I forgot that after my bumping my head a few too many times.
“I think we should find the bastads and cut um,”
Zunan always did think in an aggressive way but he was right I would not find happiness until I had my vengeance.
Then something came from my lips that would end up being something we three would never forget…
“We hunt or get hunted!”
The next morning we woke up. It had been a pretty rough night; we eventually had to find a cave to keep out of the rain. We had slept all in a sort of huddle although it took Zunan a lot of convincing. We went outside to find the island in full bloom. In the night when we escaped I had not had time to marvel the jungle for all its beauty. I am a druid and I am dedicated to preserving all forms of life.
The trees were mostly palms although one did find a locust or two in the area which was an odd tree for a jungle. A lot of ferns scattered between the rocks and trees, moss on almost everything, and tons of honeysuckle growing in the shade.
I found a small pond covered with lilies and dove my head right in. I let the cool water cleanse my tattered face and my sore hands. I started dousing off again about what had and would happen with us.
“He Mon, we should get foragn’ soon before the sun get too high,” Zunan whispered in my ear.
“What with the whispering?” I replied.
“ Ther be bad spirits in this jungle Mon, I feel it in my blud,”
“First things first we need to acquire some weapons or something” I announced.
Zunan shook his head in disappointment “Way ahead of ya, got a crude spear made, and ol’ Rupp got a totem he been sketchin’ weird symbols in all day.”
I must admit I was impressed, even if they were my friends I am a night elf and we elves don’t have much respect for lesser races, but I am finding that we are the ones that have a lot to learn.
“Ok then I better get some kind of defense going…um I find something after we eat” I replied.
We had been walking for about half an hour and only found some berries and fruits. Me and Rupp used them as a snack but Zunan needed some meat, fresh meat, not the month old shit that we were feed back on the “Black Blade”. We had been walking by a pass when we started to get a little edgy. The jungle was too silent for our taste. I could see both of them mouthing something but I couldn’t tell what. Then it accrued to me that they were trying to remember old spells, I started drilling into my brain for some old transformations or something that could help us but I couldn’t recall anything complete, only fragments.
Out of nowhere three burly looking trolls jumped into the clearing in front and behind us. They were not the same color as Zunan who is dark blue, they where crimson red with tattoos carved all over their bodies and axes in both hands. They started talking to each other in some dialect that not even Zunan understood.
Rupp was the first to react, with a giant leap forward he swung his totem into the nearest troll. The troll leaped but not early enough and got nailed pretty hard in his leg.
The other two sprung on me and Zunan. Zunan fought back the trolls lunges with his swinging spear but I had nothing. Both Rupp and Zunan had their hands full and I was backed up to the wall; the troll was smiling with an evil grin at me…I was loosing it, I didn’t know what to do…thousands of thoughts bursting through my skull ...then suddenly it came to me.
Asdereth renniga Centruas!!!
I felt my skin explode with long brown hair, my teeth grew bigger and sharper, my bones broke and ripped, luckly my loin cloth didn’t break but only fell off, my body and limbs doubled in size…..
I became a BEAR!!!
I couldn’t believe it I was a bear, it had been a long time since I had last transformed and I wasn’t quiet used to the disarranging of the bones and muscles. I decided to test out my strength on the troll that for a few seconds was smiling and now was screaming in a form of fear and rage. I swung my gigantic paw and knocked him against a boulder. He climbed up it and sprang on me ready to drive both axes in my back. I quickly responded by flipping him on the ground. The last things he ever heard in his life were my fierce roar before I ripped him limb from limb.
I quickly turned to see my comrades were having difficulties of their own. Rupp had landed a few lucky shots but the troll was too fast for him. The troll ducked under a huge lung from Rupp’s totem and shoved an axe in his right leg. Rupp howled with a roar of pain and slammed the totem downwards to the ground. He literally squashed the troll’s leg. The troll couldn’t even walk his left leg was just flesh and broken bone, totally useless. Rupp then swung his totem one last time and ended the fight.
We both turned around to find that the last troll and Zunan were missing. Suddenly you could hear screams of rage coming out of the cliffs above. We turned around shocked to find at least twenty trolls standing on the cliffs looking down at us. We then saw Zunan collapsed on an edge of the cliff being stood on what appeared to be the tribe leader, a skinny shadow hunter covered with tattoos, burn marks and scars, and what a snake crawling up and down his arm.
By this time I was already transforming back into a night elf, the pain wasn’t that bad changing back. The leader began talking in some language I had never heard before; it seemed as if he was questioning his men, especially the berserker that was from the original encounter.
“What do you here?” He could talk! To our surprise the leader could talk, which was a good because then we could maybe come to some kind of agreement.
“What do you here!?!” he repeated.
“We are travelers searching for some kind of civilization,” I responded hastily.
“You kill two our men, we kill two too,” he demanded
“He’s out of his mind,” Rupp whispered, “These guys are canalizes, they won’t let anyone escape, they would hunt the survivor down. We best think of something”
I wish I had known what to do but we weren’t going to leave Zunan behind. Maybe we could’ve bargained with something but we had nothing. Then it occurred to me that most tribes, even if they were insane, still held to honor lines strongly.
“I got it, we need to challenge the leader,” I whispered to Rupp.
“Ok, are you the leader of these trolls,” I asked the Shadow hunter.
“Yes, yes, I am, I am Rijiki,”
So it’s got a name, I whispered under my breath.
“Ok…Rijiki, I would like to challenge you, if I win we go free, if you win, you can do what the hell you want with us,” I could tell this angered him, I just hoped he took the bait.
“Rijiki does not have fear from no man, come and we fight,”
“If you are afraid of no man then why do you not fight my friend here,” I pointed at Rupp who made some kind of funny pose showing off his muscles.
“Rijiki is crazy, but not stupid, I fight with enemy troll, we duel in one hour, at river down south,” he used a scimitar he was holding to point out a river that was flowing off in the south which was in the area of where we were traveling toward. He then turned around and started walking back into the thick of the jungle, his men followed and left Zunan.
We quickly climbed up to Zunan; he had regained consciousness and was leaning on a rock holding his head in his hands.
“What happened,” I asked.
“I had that Mon but he ran off into the jungle, I followed and then they popped out of nowhere, I couldn’ do nothing Mon,” Zunan responded. He seemed to be ok, he was only bruised a little no big flesh wounds, although his spear was broken. We all strolled to the river to see what awaited him.
While Rupp took care of some herbs to help heal Zunan and make him feel a little livelier, I went down the bank to explore a little. I could see that the trolls had sentries staying hidden in the trees to spy on us; they were pretty good but not good enough to hide from a night elf. The aquatic life was amazing, many different kinds of fish, turtles, and crabs. One turtle in particular interested me, he was a light green but his shell was yellow, red, and black in a sort of zigzag pattern. It started wobbling off trying to get to some shade. It lead me to a small cave by the bank covered with beautiful ferns and vines…it made me start to think about my family until I discovered something hanging out of the cave. It was a blade, finely crafted strong but yet something told me not to touch it, I had seen such a blade before. I used a leaf to extract the blade from the cave; it turned out to be a glaive, a huntress glaive!
“What was such a thing doing here,” I asked myself aloud. I was afraid it would be poisoned, I had known an alchemist back in Lev’taras, he had taught me that the poison on glaives last a lifetime but can be washed off by water easily. I took some leafs and molded them in a type of glove and used it to wash the blade clearly off, although I didn’t know what to do with it. I am a druid I don’t know how to use a glaive, I would probably hurt myself, but maybe Zunan would be able to put it to use. I hurried back to my friends…
When I got their Rijiki was already there with two burly looking berserkers acting as bodyguards. Rijiki was wielding his scimitar from earlier and his snake was crawled around some small wand that was hanging from his belt. He had some red paint put over his skinny but muscular body. I believe I underestimated him when we first encountered him on the cliffs. I could tell he was a seasoned warrior by a particular tattoo he had on his back with a many slashes probably indicating kills.
I ran over to Zunan and showed him the glaive. “Hey Zunan, here I found this, do you think you can wield it?”
“hmmm… maybe Mon I don’t kno’, you night elves got some weird weapons…I try it,” he replied.
“We gona start now or what?” Rijiki was getting impatient.
“Let’s do this,” Zunan spat on the ground in front of Rijiki. Rijiki simply smirked at Zunan friendly.
“Follow me,” one of the bodyguards stepped forward.
He lead us to a turn in the river where logs where all stuck in the river to make a path from side to side. The wood seemed sturdy but if someone wasn’t careful they would probably fall off and this part of the river had some pretty strong rapids that would rip even a mountain giant apart. If a person was going to fight on this they better be flexible, which made Zunan the good choice anyway. Zunan stepped onto the first log and waited for Rijiki to appear. After a few moments of waiting Rijiki appeared on the other side of the riverbed, he stood standing there for a moment seeming to meditate.
Suddenly he made an impressive backwards flip onto the middle log. My jaw hit the floor; I had no idea that such uncivilized creatures could be that dexterous; at the same moment I could hear Zunan gulp and swear under his breath before yelling,
“Lets do this!!!”
It had begun. The duel that would decide our fate and the rest of our lives was happening right before my eyes. I watched as Zunan and Rijiki stared at each other trying to find a weakness and test their opponent. The first move was done by Zunan; he leaped onto the nearest log and made a crouch balancing perfectly on the same space. This surprised me I never knew how agile my friend really was but I knew now that this wasn’t going to easy for the both of them.
Zunan stood up from his crouch and leapt from log to log trying to get to Rijiki which had changed to a defense position.
Zunan landed within three meters of Rijiki and then made a gigantic lunge forward trying to split his opponent in half. At the last second Rijiki jumps to the side landing safely and countered with a slash at Zunan’s back. Luckily Zunan had used so much strength in his lunge that the glaive was stuck in the wood. He scrambled to get some footing on the stump when he turned around to see Rijiki’s counter.
Zunan ducked in time and lost only some hair on his lush Mohawk. Rijiki made a backwards flip to the middle of the arena where more room was to move around.
“Haha…weapon stuck?” Rijiki smirked.
Zunan scrambled and pulled on the glaive but to no avail, it was stuck.
Rijiki hopped back to where Zunan was and kart-wheel kicked him on his torso.
Zunan growled with rage, he leapt back onto the stump and with on big thrust yanked the glaive from it’s place.
Rijiki made a pace backwards surprised by Zunan’s strength.
Zunan made a roll forward and tried to sweep Rijiki off his feet but Rijiki sprang to the stump behind him.
Rijiki surprisingly then jumped to one of the edge logs right at the waterfall.
“What could he be up to,” I whispered to Rupp who also seemed confused.
Rijiki then made some kind of pose and fell into some kind of trance.
Zunan didn’t waste any second, he jumped from log to log to right in front of him and made a thrust forward with the glaive intending on impaling his opponent, until suddenly something happened, a gigantic snake head shot up in front of Rijiki and bit Zunan on his arm. Zunan jumped back in pain instinctively and started sucking on the wound and spitting out all the poison.
The snake head disappeared and Rijiki came out of his trance.
“Do you see know you don’t gota chance Mon,” Rijiki spat.
“I’m better than you think,” Zunan lunged forward seeming to fall off his log but held himself with his legs. Zunan then rammed the post that Rijiki was standing on as hard as he could.
The post shook loose and fell into the depths of the waterfall taking Rijiki with it.
“Not that smart that one was,” Zunan laughed and started hopping back to the shore.
Both guards didn’t seem to be taken aback by what had just happened, something wasn’t right
“Zunan behind you!!” I screamed.
Zunan swung around just in time to get Rijiki’s foot right in his face.
Zunan flew backwards almost breaking his back on a log.
Rijiki stood over him wielding his scimitar about to impale his adversary.
“Its over,” Rijiki grinned.
WHOOSHH!!! Black smoke swallowed the two trolls and hazed the whole arena.
When it finally cleared you could see Zunan standing with one foot on a crippled dead Rijiki wielding a scimitar in his stomach.
“He not the only guy with secrets,” Zunan chuckled.
It was over, Zunan had won.
The guards that had been watching us were appalled the second they saw Rijiki lying there dead impaled through the chest with his own scimitar but seemed to except it. When Zunan got down from the posts a bulky berserker came to us.
“You have killed Chief, now you decide what happens, I be the second in charge here and will escort ya to the nearest town…bi’ da way my nom be Stazar,”
“We be honored if ya took us to the nearest town,” Zunan answered.
We all decided to let Zunan do the talking because they respected him, but I didn’t know about me and Rupp. It was about midday and we were all especially Zunan after having his big fight. We decide to climb down beyond the waterfall and find a cool spring to rest ourselves. Stazar guided us to a particularly warm spring with mango trees growing all around it and some very friendly colorful birds that Stazar referred to as Peacocks, strange name don’t you think? We spent a good hour there soaking up the sun and healing our wounds with a weird troll concoction that we had to eat; your mouth and throat would burn for a few minutes but afterwards would make you feel as if you were a new man.
I spent most of my time talking with Stazar about his people, I was surprised to find out how civilized they really were. They had their own villages off on the cliffs near the waterfall where no one could find them. They had eradicated cannibalizes a long time ago and were mostly vegetarians but the few that ate meat at mostly fish from the river. Stazar explained about the town that he was going to take us to. Puskaraz, a mostly trading town with plenty of opportunities to travel and earn money, was only five or six hours away. What disturbed me is that this town was ruled by a human who was quiet fond of gladiators and that slave trade also existed there. We would have to be careful; we might even meet up with our old “friends” from the “Black Blade”. If we met Rekklar and Pezral again they would slit our throats before we could even say “how much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood”. That’s just an old night elf saying.
We broke out going down the river with some canoes that we had barrowed from the Trolls. We made our way downstream with little difficulty besides the fact that a tauren like Rupp can get easily sea sick and rocks the boat by moving one finger. We arrived at a pass that was almost completely shaded off by gigantic trees. At this point Stazar told us all to be silent and not to make any sudden movements. The area that we were in seemed to decay as we entered it. Things were turning black; the smell of dark magic was in the air, almost as if the burning legion had been here.
“Stazar what is this place....”
“Shhhhhh, you fool, we don’t want to wake them,” Stazar whispered.
“Wake what,” I asked.
Suddenly thousands of bats came out and overwhelmed the canoes. I was waving my arms everywhere to evade getting bitten or worse. All around me I only saw blackness I didn’t know what was happening to the other guys because the insects and bats screeched so loud I could barely make out the screams of my comrades. I didn’t know what to do they were starting to pick at my limbs and were scratching my face.
“Yuhananza l’upotat gwarthet”
I felt my bones brake and my organs twist…my arms and legs started sprouting with feathers. My face formed a beak…my teeth seemed to disappear as my limbs seemed to shrink together. I grew claws on my feet which bended backwards and my eyes seemed to see a lot clearer now.
I was a storm crow….I was amazed at how fast I could fly…it was incredible. I turned around to see that the swarm was following me… I felt this energy come alive inside me; it went from my head to the tips of my wings….I made a gigantic thunder strike.
It shot through the swarm tearing it in half.
Although the swarm retreated to the black part of the river again I was feeling very dizzy…..I suddenly felt my body changing again…..I dropped from the sky.
Rain, it was raining, I could feel it on my face….I was alive, barely, I tried to move but it hurt too much, my ribs, arms and legs were broken. I was lying on top of an old palm tree. I was in druid form again, every breath I took hurt all I could do was think. What had happened, was that swarm that had attacked us, how long had I been unconscious, and why was something crawling up my leg. It was a python.
”Shit,” I whispered to myself, I didn’t know what to do now, this was probably the end for me. Maybe if I used my rejuvenation spell….
“Tylasa Oplono chzaka”
My body seemed to start to glow; the snake immediately crawled off me into the thick of the tree. I could feel my bones jerk back into the right places, my torn muscles started to mend themselves, and my pulsating headache seemed to disappear.
I was as good as new; I decided to test my strength and climb to the top of the palm to get a view of the area. When I got to the top I was almost horrified of what I saw; the jungle had turned into a gigantic storm. The wind was howling, dark clouds filled the sky, I could see a town near the shore which was most likely Puskaraz, I could see a clearing off to the south. Everything around that area seemed to be dying; the trees were all burnt, the land that I could see was covered with some kind of green eerie ooze that seemed to life, there were graves littered around some kind of totem all decorated with symbols and runes I saw two demonic looking creatures circling above the clearing.
I made my way down the tree, it was astounding how high this palm really was, at least 10 meters high and with strong winds it wasn’t easy. When I got down I could see that the land had dramatically changed, the lush green plants were being engulfed by the black ooze, corrupted to a dark purple and loosing their former beauty. I made my way towards the clearing with caution, trying not to alert the two fly creatures. I found spot where I could easily survey the entire area without much trouble.
The graves were all open and empty, nothing but bone and ash left. I could see Rupp tied to some unholy shrine that seemed to sprout out of the ground in the middle of all the graves. Zunan and Stazar were both lying unconscious next to each other on top of a pile of broken tombstones. In front of the shrine completely lifeless I could make out a statue, it seemed to be in the form of a creature that I had seen back when the scourge conquered my outpost, they were called dreadlords…I think. The only possible danger I could see were the two flying monstrosities above me. I climbed up on a rock lying amongst the palms that gave me a clear entrance to the sky.
“Yuhananza l’upotat gwarthet”
This time the pain wasn’t that bad, my muscles and bones seemed to arrange themselves without much dilemma. I flapped twice hard against the air and then shot in the air. The two creatures noticed me immediately and flew towards me. These creatures didn’t seem to be too large; they had big bulgy eyes, sharp teeth making them an excellent anti air unit, pathetic wings, and some sharp claws on the ends of their feet.
The first one jolted forward and tried to latch his claws into my side, I made a barrel roll out and turned and struck him with a badly aimed lightning bolt. The bolt merely simmered the tip of one of its wings, making it angry. The second one came out of nowhere and latched itself onto my back. I screeched as it buried its teeth into my back. In the midst of all the pain I was able to concentrate a bolt and fend off the first one which approaching me from the front. I then made a deep plunge still being captivated by the hideous monstrosity. It wouldn’t let go, and I wouldn’t pull up, I could smell its fear but I was determined. We both plunged head on into the depths of the river.
I looked around me; my wings were useless in the water, what I could do…I could see the creature lifelessly float to the bottom of the river, dead. I used my powers to turn back into my night elf form but I still didn’t have enough strength to stop from drowning. I started fading away; the last things that came to my mind were some old words that I couldn’t understand…
My eyes opened, where I was, was I dreaming. I looked around me; I was underwater, I could only see seaweed and corals around me. A group of brightly colored rainbow fish swam close to me, but as soon as they noticed me they rushed away in all directions…wait why could I now breathe? I looked down to see two wet paws with small sharp claws to both sides of me.
They belonged to me!?!
I turned around to see a long thin flabby tail floating behind me.
I had become an otter.
I quickly swam to the top of the river and looked around, nothing suspicious going on. I swam onto the bank and dried off. The sky was still pitch black and the forest was still being infected by the green ooze. The water seemed to still be pure, but for how long I did not know. I used my newly found regenerating powers to make me feel like new.
I decided to change into my hawk form because that way I could find the clearing easier, hopefully the second monstrosity wasn’t still flying around. When I got there nothing really had changed, except there was a new statue near the shrine. Rupp, Zunan, and Stazar were still unconscious and the runes were still on the graves. I risked walking right into the clearing; it seemed no one was around although the closer I got to the statue; the more it reminded me of the monsters that had attacked me earlier. I got to Rupp and untied him and then went over to the trolls to untie them…
“CRRRaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrRrrr”
“Watch out Maalox!”
Boom! I turned around to see Rupp slamming his crude totem against the now living statue, now I recognize the creature, it was a gargoyle.
The gargoyle seemed to jolt before Rupp pulverized it to death.
Zunan and Stazar came to themselves slowly.
Something was wrong, I could sense something unholy coming closer. I looked toward the forest to see a 2 ½ meter tall dread lord come darting out upon us.
“I am Protesucus, and you will all die now!”
There he stood. In front of our small party stood a gigantic monstrosity glaring down at us with rage and contempt. I couldn’t help but notice a touch of excitement in his figure, as if he had not had contact to others in a long time. His figure was quite impressive at that. His body was covered in some kind of demonic armor that was tainted in bright red. On the breastplate of the armor there was a symbol of the burning legion that was common for commanders to wear. His arms were also protected by bracers that were also tainted in red. His hands as well as his whole body were muscular. His legs were think and powerful with a set of sharp nails at both ends of his feet. His face was horrific, he had a malefic nose and his lips were cracked and cut in many places. His beading eyes were small and black, and his ears long and sharp like that of a night elf. To top it all off he was bald with only two grimacing horns protruding from his skull.
“I don’t know what you’re doing here...” he started to speak again, his voice radiating with darkness.
“…but you will never leave here!”
“I am Protesucus, a dread lord that served in the invasions of thousands of worlds. I fought creatures, demons, wizards that you could not imagine. We conquered over all and sucked the magic and life from everything that we touched. As I heard we were returning to the land known as Azeroth to complete what we started years ago I thought not much more of it than any other mission. The Legion had never had a strong opponent so why worry, right? Little did I know…..” as he ranted on about his story I could see that Rupp and the others were clenching their weapons and surveying the situation, I too checked my surroundings but made sure that I still seemed to be listening.
“Hmmm…Archimonde was a fool to send me off like this. He ordered me to fly here in search of some old dragon named Deathwing, but all we found was a gigantic maelstrom that swallowed me and my gargoyles up. When I awoke…I found myself stranded on this accursed island with a broken wing…” as he said this he revealed his wings, one strong and large the other diminutive and decrepit.
“I found only two of my gargoyles left luckily they could regenerate throw their statue form...”
Suddenly the statue standing beside him burst into the monstrosity that it depicted. The gargoyle perched itself on top of the healthy wing of Protesucus.
“Unfortunately I had no portals left; all I could do was make myself a little home here. The native trolls and ogres that inhabit this island have made my life troublesome the last few decades but I was able to keep them at bay and learn a few tricks from them. The port town of Puskaraz also didn’t make my life easier…there was a platoon of bandits that had hunted me for months but through my strength and corruption of the shadows I killed them all one by one…..And now after so many years I have found a way to heal myself…but for that I need blood…night elf blood.
I felt my heart skip, he wanted me and nobody else but I even in my bear form would have no chance against him, I could see my comrades come around me, arming themselves with what they had. Rupp puffed out his gigantic chest wielding his totem pole and chanting some old tauren spell. Stazar grab forth a javelin and cast something. As this happened a ward appeared in front of us but then seconds later disappeared. Zunan pulled out his glaive and I transformed myself into a bear.
Protesucus didn’t seem at all threatened by us. He jolted forward about to grab Zunan when suddenly the ward appeared again. Protesucus froze on the spot; you could even make out the twinkle of surprise on his eyes as he stood their motionless. We didn’t waste any time. Through Rupp’s chant I could feel my agility was changing, I could attack faster than normal. Zunan drove his glaive into an unprotected part of Protesucus’ thigh. I mauled him straight to the ground and Rupp pulverized him with his totem. Protesucus laid there still lifelessly until the affect of the ward finally subsided. “RAAAARRR”
The gargoyle drove its fangs into Stazar and tried flying off with him. Zunan jumped onto the gargoyle trying to jab at it with his glaive but its wings got in his way.
I turned around to see Protesucus holding Rupp’s totem in his hands and Rupp lying on the ground unconscious on the ground. I sprung on Protesucus mauling him onto the ground; as I raised my paw to maul him in the face his eyes shot open glowing a blinding white. I was literally thrown off of him by thousands of locusts. They ripped at my flesh with their claws and fangs devouring me it felt like the end…
GRAAAARRR!! I burst out a screeching roar. I could feel the inner fire within me burst out. The locusts all burst into flames around me. All I saw was red; my heart was pounding like wild this was more than just my roar affecting me.
I turned to face my enemy, everything else didn’t matter; neither the scream of the gargoyle nor the grunt of Stazar and Zunan as they fought it. I could only see Protesucus as he came towards me. I roared toward him baring my teeth as I approached him. He tried to jump but I sank my teeth into his leg. He let out a howl with terror before digging his claws into my back. I let out a terrifying snarl and started charging toward the gigantic shrine in the middle of the field while dragging Protesucus along with me. He tried his best to hold on but I ran with such haste that he let go and let me drag him. Big mistake. I started swinging him around crashing him into the very graves that he himself had put other into. Next I threw him on my back in an art saddle position. I used every ounce of reserved strength and plunged into the shrine. We both fell to the ground hardly moving. I could no longer stay in bear form I transformed back into my druid form. I found a rusty dagger lying by my side that must have been dug up while I was stampeding the graves. I strutted over to where Protesucus was lying at the foundation of the shrine. I grabbed his collar with both hands and shook him back to consciousness.
“Any last words….maybe to his majesty Archimonde…ohh wait I bet you didn’t know that he is now dead right?”
I could see the rage in his eyes as he heard this but he didn’t say a thing; all he did was let out one last silent scream upon the sky before closing his eyes forever.
I turned around and smiled at my comrades, who were all sitting down and fixing their wounds, but they were not looking at me, they were watching the sky which was bursting from its pitch black clouds into a bright green….
The skies were bleeding red. Moments ago the sky was still a depressing gray and now it was a magnificent blinding crimson. The forest seemed to awaken with this new found light source entering the chilling night. I could see birds flying in flocks toward the coasts to get away from the burning sky. The once oozing ground was now turning its natural brown again and even small patches of grass were emerging. Still something was not right, why was the sky so red. There was something forming in the atmosphere, something large.
”We should get out of here mon,” whispered Zunan growing more impatient with every second that passed by.
“I think…I think your right,” I stuttered, I couldn’t take my eyes off the form in the sky. It was burning a gorgeous green; it reminded me of my wife’s eyes that I so longed to see again. Rupp came over to me and pushed me eagerly.
“We must get out of here, that thing is heading straight towards us…must be some sort of spell from Protesucus”
“Ok quick back to the river, I noticed the canoes stuck between to boulders back by the spot were we were first attacked.” I answered still fixated on the burning object.
We started off in a bit of a hustle but as soon as we spotted the thing coming closer it was every man for him.
Zunan and Stazar were the obvious leaders being seasoned hunters used to running for days without end. Rupp, being a tauren, had slight lead on me despite his age and weight. It was hard to see where I was treading, having to look at his black fleece the whole time. As I ran I would also take a quick peer back to see where it was, by now it was already within a half a kilometer of impact. Slip!!! I unexpectedly lost me footing on a rock in front of me and flew to the ground hitting my chin hard on a pebble. I moved my hand to my chin checking for blood. Luckily it only injured my pride nothing more. I peered up to survey my surroundings. I was in a small clearing with only a few flat boulders protruding from the ground. I could hear the river flowing cleanly about 60 meters away. Beside me a snake was slithering toward the river, it seemed almost frightened of something. I immediately returned to reality as the comet reentered my mind. I stood up analyzing the situation. Rupp and the two trolls had stopped dashing about 10 meters in front of me staring into the oblivion above them. I turned around to see the burning rock right in front of me. I could feel its intensity scorching my eyes. It hit. My eyes went black. I was lying on the ground again. I could smell a foul essence in the air. I could only hear a pounding shriek in front of me. Something else was bothering me, I was sweating, and something near me was burning! I regained my consciousness and looked up. A gigantic golem-like creature was standing in front of me looking direct at me. It was at least fifteen meters tall and at least 5 meters wide. It was made completely of rock but there was a difference from the golems I had seen in Ashenvale forest. It was on fire! I looked around me to see my comrades trying hard to get to there feet. This “Infernal” was looking around seeming to search for something. Maybe it was wondering where the dread lord that had conjured it was hiding; I would hate to break the news to him.
“For the Earthmother!” Rupp bellowed as he rammed his horns into the leg of the monstrosity.
“CraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaA!!!” It burst out with flames boxing Rupp to the ground with its right arm. Zunan used his chance and climbed up the arm despite the everlasting immolation that was surrounding the creature. He thrust his glaive into the blazing eyes of the infernal to no avail. The creature burst into fury waving its arms in all directions knocking my companions to the ground. It let out a holler of triumph and turned to me. I knew I didn’t have a chance against it so I ran. I couldn’t describe the fear and shame that I was feeling. I was a seasoned warrior as such I did not step down from any challenge, but this time it was different. I didn’t know if my companions were still breathing or not but I knew I could not save them now. I could feel the quake of its footsteps behind me; it became more intense with every stride. I was only a sheer leap away from the river as it grabbed me. Its colossal grip was straining the life out of me. The fire was cooking my skin; I had never felt such pain in my life…
“For Pandaria!!!”
A roar came out of the forest. I looked around to see what was going on but could not see over the smoldering flames. Suddenly the Infernal jolted forward. I looking in awe into its facade as it looked around in surprise. Again the enormous golem jerked forward this time falling waist deep into the sparkling waters of the stream. The Infernal started screaming in dismay as it tried to free itself from its watery prison. Its flames started to dampen as it fell apart. I was still locked fixed in its grasp as it let out one last deafening cry before completely collapsing into heaps of ash and stone and sinking to the streams bottom. The hand still seemed to grip me firm as it landed on the bank ramming me into a boulder, making my world go black.
I could feel my spirit float off into endless fantasy and dream. I was floating on top of clouds watching myself lay there unconscious. I recalled what had happened in the past week that had brought me to such an end. The years that I had spent on the “Black Blade”, the horrible hardships I had to go through under captain Rekklar and his mage Pezral, the escape, the trolls, Zunan’s duel with Rijiki, the time we spent with Stazar rafting and learning about the jungle, and how we first got ambushed by Protesucus’ carrion swarm. My dreams then turned to happier places like my hometown, the forest there that I had spent countless hours in, and my family that might or might not be alive. I started hovering down from the clouds towards our hut in the thick of the ancients that protected our town. I seemed to phase through the roof not that that bothered me at all. I saw my two children playing peacefully with some harmless wooden staves by the fireplace. The room had been decorated for an Elfish holiday that we call “Weihnachten” with a pine tree in the middle covered in ribbons and candy. My wife was sitting in her favorite wooden chair that I had hand crafted for her on her last birthday reading an old novel. She was beautiful. Her eyes were such a bright green, her hair so long and elegant. She seemed to sense something; she looked left and right before looking straight up directly at me. We seemed to stare at each other; both of us filling with anxiety. She reached out with her hand trying to reach me. I hesitated for a moment before reaching out for her. I was finally happy. But suddenly we seemed to grow farther and farther apart. The room became cold and dark and she seemed to get smaller and smaller. Her smile turned into a look of dismay as I was sucked out of the hut back into the sky. Stars were spinning around my head I had no clue as to what was going on.
I opened my eyes. I first thing I noticed was the pounding headache and the muscle cramps from being squeezed from the Infernal. There was a puddle of my drool on the ground and sand in my mouth. Then I saw something that I did not intend to see. A hand, but I was not of tauren or troll kind. It was furry and was black and white. It reminded me of a bear paw; burly and muscular.
“Yous could use some of ma Ale,” a massive pandaren was grinning in my face. He was something to look at; he had broad shoulders and thick legs but was actually rather tall. He wore a light green mantle covered with incantations and pink lilies. On his rather large head he wore a hat made from young bamboo which was formed in a rather flat shape. In the hand that wasn’t trying to help me up he firmly held a staff made of bamboo. He helped me up and padded my back with a smile.
“You lucky I find you all, yes yes” the panda chuckled. He seemed friendly enough for my standards but I decided to press some information out of him.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Toko Honeybrew, a Brewmaster and inventor of Frizzy beer to your service.”
“Why are you here, why did you help us, and why is it called “Frizzy” bear?”
“First, I travel from port to port finding new herbs for me brew. Second, sorry I thought you guys could use a little help so I rammed it in da river, with da help from this biggy beast here, Rupp was it? And third, when you drink it ya get all Frizzy,” Toko started dancing around singing some old lyric about his infamous brew.
“Do you want to escort us to Puskaraz?” I asked patiently.
“Nothing to it mate dance along,” he grabbed Zunan by the arm trying to show him the moves.
“Come on be serious for a moment,” I declared, he stopped dancing and turned to me.
“Why be serious laddy, it only leads to depression; yes I will come with ya, you got room in your canoes?” he giggled.
“Of course we have room but first we need to eat,” I uttered.
“Then you be in for a treat friend!”
And he was right. We all sat down below a young mango tree and rested ourselves. Toko took out a blanket and unpacked his bag. He had jars full with honey and conservatives, bread with butter, and even some dried meat. While we ate he twitted around with his brew, throwing in herbs and picking a few mangos squeezing them into one big jug. After we had all stuffed ourselves he let us have a taste of his new brew “Mango craze”. It was quiet sweet but still strong, a real punch in the ribs if you weren’t prepared. Toko told us about his adventures, some silly, some dangerous, and some seemed a little made up but we all had fun anyway.
After taking a midday nap we all got our gear together and climbed into the canoes. We paddled along for two hours or so admiring the beautiful jungle in its peaceful state. After rowing our way thorough some curves we finally reached the ocean. Puskaraz was a mere day’s march away from our current position so we decided to take it slow. Stazar’s mission to take us here was complete and he said he had to return to his tribe which was awaiting him to take Rijiki’s old place as chief. We all gave him a warm farewell and waved him goodbye until he disappeared into the jungle. Now it was only the four of us in your quest to wreak vengeance on your old masters and find peace and happiness in our old homes.