Playing with Fire - Of loss and grief

Chapter Four: Bargaining (Part II)

Voren'thal's army wasn't big, but it comprised some of the brightest among us. It was a strong, cohesive force, more than enough to take the broken city of Shattrath. As we gathered to leave, Neph approached to say goodbye.

Some people envied us. Our love was so obvious and true that left no doubt for anyone to contest. Even if our farewell kisses were soft and calm, restrained by the presence of so many elves around us, gathering and getting ready for the departure, our gazes were intense and devoted to each other. That was the last time he held me with such tenderness; that was the last time he kissed me with such pure love and affection.

I was forced to take my mind away from the night before and focus on what we were doing. We gathered in small groups with at least one mage on it, and so we were instructed to teleport the small group to a chosen area at Zangarmarsh. The reason we weren't teleporting right up to Shattrath's doorstep was that it was a long distance, a big group and it would leave us exhausted and with little time to organize and rest. I also believed that Voren'thal didn't want it remembered as a coward's attack: the city was already broken, struggling to rise again, and were we going to attack it in its sleep? I suspected he wanted to give the defenders time to notice our presence and build up the defense lines. I liked to believe that; I didn't want to murder anymore children and unarmed peasants.

Teleporting to a closest location might have saved us some days of marching, but still it took us the whole day to teleport everyone and regroup. We couldn't all just teleport to the same point, and so we were given specific points in the marsh to teleport to, each one of them a mile or so away from the other. It all happened quite smoothly, and just half of my group ended up in the middle of the river. I guess I could have been more focused.

We regrouped and set our camp. As I looked around, I remembered what I felt the first time I'd been to the marsh. It was as impressive as it was threatening. I breathed in the wet and heavy air of Zangarmarsh and had the feeling that the trees were watching me. Sometimes I had the feeling that the leaves and grass would swing away with no breeze; that the forest was closing around me, embracing me. Some plants, fungi and animals emitted a soft and peaceful light that made the use of torches nearly unnecessary. Also, the mushrooms were everywhere, and some of them were so big that they grew up high above the tallest trees. It was such a surreal place it was easy to understand that, before the Shattering, that place was actually the bottom of the sea.

For a botanist, it was quite a fascinating place. Lots of different kinds of plants, with a myriad of different and interesting properties were growing there, some of them just waiting to be discovered. Even though the air was heavy there, it seemed purer, fresh, vibrating with life. I could smell the wood and the moss; I could hear the buzz of insects and flapping of wings of the shy, hidden birds. There were no demonic forces tainting that place that remained, as much as it could, free from demonic influence. As far as I knew, at least. But the same way a rose have thorns, that place was far from being safe. Like I said before, there was no safe place at Outlands. The marsh was infested with giant insect-like creatures, sapient fungi, poisonous things and things I didn't even bother to understand what they were. None of those would trouble us, however, since we were strong, united and organized.

What put me at rest, at the moment, was that I brought Ala'Nyr with me. After I built up my small tent, I built a nest for Ala'Nyr with sticks and grass covered by some pelts, and couldn't help but think it looked better than my poor tent. If I could have learned anything from my years spent on the wilderness, was to not complain about the lack of comfort. I could have learned useful things, you know, like fishing, skinning and hunting. A friend of mine, Katu'Zul Zula, tried to teach me those things, back in the days, and I learned nothing. But that's another story entirely. Katu'Zul deserves her own story.