And the Skies Bled Fire... - A World of Warcraft Story

And the Skies Bled Fire...

   The skies bled fire that day.

   All around, the earth itself was breaking and convulsing beneath the chaos of battle. Waves of towering monstrosities cascaded over the distant hills, flooding the ancient elven fields and towns, razing everything in their path. It was hard to breathe, the dust and the smoke and the stench of death becoming unbearable as fleeing civilians were dragged and crushed and gutted, leaving mounds of singed flesh, eyes sightlessly set on the roiling clouds above. The carved marble structures that once served as homes and places of worship tumbled like cards. Reduced to nothing more than dust.

   Screams. There were so many screams. Sorrowful screams, and terrified screams, and furious screams. Screams of yet another glorious civilization being brought to its knees by the Burning Legion, all within a matter of hours.

   Imala let out a cry as her foot got caught on a lifeless arm, nearly sending the young elf sprawling down into the tall grass. Her heart racing, she forced herself not to look down, another sob escaping her lips as she felt her bare feet sink into the bloody soil. She was passing yet another group of kaldorei, unfortunate enough to have been caught in their efforts to flee the destruction. Their belongings were strewn about haphazardly, with broken vases and clothing spilling from their fingers.

   Her silver eyes were wild, darting around as she sought out possible danger. Imala was some distance away from the combat by now, having fled to the outskirts of Suramar City during the initial attack. She had no choice but to leave her family behind. She wasn't even home when the demons had struck. Oh, Elune, let them be okay. Please...

   "Who's there?!" Imala exclaimed suddenly, her voice breaking at the sound of footsteps hitting the earth, somewhere in the brush ahead. She let out a low wail and sank to her knees as the leaves parted, revealing the hulking shape of a felguard. The demon hefted a monstrous axe from one gauntleted hand to the other, its charcoal skin covered by a sheen of fresh blood. A body of an elven man was impaled upon one of the plated spikes that grew from its back. It let out a low growl, stalking towards where Imala sat, at a loss, with her hands feebly covering her head.She could hear its rancid breath rasping from above, how it turned into a huff of amusement as it realized that this would be another easy kill. Her breaths became shallower as she realized that there is no escape.

    Suddenly, energy surged through her veins. Imala forced herself to her feet and dropped her belongings, pushing through her terror as she bolted away from the felguard, into the nearby line of trees. She heard it let out a snarl, followed by the sound of footsteps in pursuit. Tears ran down her face as she dodged the trees and the bushes, desperately trying to find an escape route. The demon was at least two feet taller than her, which meant that it would not have much difficulty catching up to her quickly. Already, its strides were growing louder, as were the sounds of splintering wood. In the distance, explosions ravaged the landscape, sending streaks of green flame to consume everything it can reach.

    "Help, please! Help me!" Imala screamed. She did not dare look over her shoulder, only forcing herself to run a little further, a little longer. Where was she running? She didn't know, but as long as it got that monster off of her trail...

   "Watch your head!" Someone called.

    Imala let out a gasp, barely having the time to skid to a halt, dropping to her knees and digging her broken fingernails into the grass and leaves underneath, burying her face in the dirt. She heard the growl of a nightsaber and several battle-cries, followed by the clash of weaponry. All the elven woman could do was whimper and crawl, inch by inch, toward the nearest bush. She heard men calling to each other in Elvish as they battled the felguard. "Check on the girl!" One of them had called.