Alterac

It's happy hour, the alcohol is flowing. It's time to pull up a tankard of ale, bottle of wine for the ladies and regail tales of heroism and grandeur.

Topic/Postby Fereth » 09 Apr 2009, 11:00

Alterac

This is actually a story I wrote quite long time ago, before I had even reached the level to visit Alterac Valley to see what it would looked like. Unfortunately the original version wasn't in English and it took me this long to translate it.

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He heard footsteps and someone speaking orchish near by. Fereth recognized only few words but it was obvious that they were looking for him. He pressed tighter to ground and hoped he would go unnoticed. Snow was cold and wet, but he was too afraid to move.

“There is no one here, let’s go”
“But Commander…”
“Shut up Draic! Do you throw doubt on my judgement? And even if here was someone, they could not survive in this weather for long. Not alone.”
“Yes, Commander.”

Fereth lifted his head carefully from the ground and saw 5 orcs walking away. He would be safe, for now. He got up carefully, shook most of the snow of his leather armour and cursed all the orcs and the savages they were. When he was done with orcs, he cursed whole Valley of Alterac, the dwarfs and most of the Alliance. Join the military, see the world… Yeah right. It was one of the rare moments when he regretted not doing as his parents had advised and become a druid.

Then sun was setting when Fereth left the safety of woods. As a Kaldorei it suited him just fine and moving in dark was easier for him. Moon illuminated snow and created a ghostly glow in the Valley. Further away one could see marks of previous days battles: blood had coloured the snow red and dead soldiers from both armies were lying in snow. Too many had coat of arms with blue markings that were stained with blood.
They had lost the battle.

Many had attempted to flee when the loss was obvious, but Horde had hunted them down. They had searched for survivors and sled them. Few must have escaped, but Fereth had no idea how to find them anymore. He was all alone.

Fereth hiked the whole night towards south. He stopped at dawn to rest and eat some of the bread he had with him. Now he understood why the Orcs had given up on him so easily: he would not survive for long. He had barely any food or shelter, only hunger and cold to drive him forward. He wished he had his crossbow with him, but it would have been too impractical for a scout. He had only pair of daggers with him that weren’t much use in hunting. His leather armour was designed to be light so he was able to move swiftly and unnoticed in enemy territory. It wasn’t meant to keep anyone alive in wilderness.

The rising sun shined to snow and blinded Fereth’s eyes. He decided that night would be better time for him to carry on and to avoid patrolling Orcs. Fereth crawled under big spruce and covered himself with cloak.

After sunset Fereth woke up to the cold. During the day time sun had kept him warm, but moonlight was freezing. He got up and stretched, trying to get blood to flow in his numb legs and arms. Even though he had slept, the battles in previous day and the night-long hike had taken its toll. Fereth was exhausted, both mentally and physically, but he had to continue. It was his only choice.

The night was silent and cold. Fereth was cold even though he moved swiftly. Around midnight it started to snow. First the flakes were big and slow, but slowly changed to icy rain that soaked him and made him feel even colder, if possible.

Just before dawn Fereth had to stop to rest. He was frozen and tired. He found a hole from a crag he used as a shelter from the wind and he laid down to rest.
I’ll never get out from here. I lost my troops in the battle. I should have fell with them. I’m a coward, a traitor. I hid when it was duty to fight until end. I’m never going to see Tildúr again.

“Elune, why did you abandon me?”
Now I got the faith I deserved.

“Fred, over here.”
Gray wolf walked over to a bearded dwarf.
“What did ya find from there? An animal? Show me where it was.” The dwarf chatted to the wolf while it was leading him to the crag. The Dwarf kneeled to see that thing buried in the snow.
“By me beard, it’s still alive! Come Fred, we need to get it to warm, quickly.”
The dwarf put the night elf on the back of the wolf and lead it towards his cabin.

It took three days before Fereth woke up. He looked at his surroundings in the small cabin. Walls were made of timber and there was lit fireplace in a corner. There was also large pelt on the floor. Fereth wasn’t quite certain which animal had lost its skin for it. He heard low growling from the floor next to the bed and was met with yellow wolf eyes. Fereth backed up to the wall, hoping that the animal lying on the floor wouldn’t be hungry. Even though Night Elves respected the nature, nature didn’t always remember to respect them back.
“Fred won’t harm ya, so just relax lad. I’m Grimgrun, part of the Stormpike family. Fred found you mile away in a bad shape, I tell ya.”
“Thank you, sir. You must have saved my life. I am Fereth Moonshine. I was fighting in the Valley when my troops were destroyed.”
“Ye, I heard about it. You had a damn good luck there lad, getting away from there alive. A messenger came here four days ago to tell the news. I’ve heard they’re gathering the troops again.”
Fereth sat on the bed quietly thinking for some time.
“Would you mind not telling anyone that you have found me? It might be better if they thought… Well, you know…”
“Ah, want to avoid all the explaining and troubles lad, I understand. My lips are sealed, you can count on that.”
Fereth nodded quietly. He didn’t want to return to that hell. Not anymore. He had had enough of war and just wanted to forget everything.

Grimgrun let the elf to stay with him and gather strength. However, already after couple of weeks Fereth announced that it was time for him to leave.
“The fresh troops must be here soon, I want to get out of their way. I head back to Kalimdor and back to Ashenvale.” Back home.
Grimgrun handed him a riding ram and equipped him to the journey that was going to be long and difficult.

“Ande'thoras-ethil, dear dwarf.”
“Good journey and be careful, me and Fred won’t be there to save you next time, lad.”

Finally I would get home back to Tildúr.
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Fereth
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Topic/Postby Serendipity » 10 Apr 2009, 00:54

Nicey :Q
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