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Both Sides Now	By : Firefall_Varuna Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 4996 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own World of Warcraft, races, characters, settings, or themes presented within. I do not make money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
Chapter 18 – Pyre

"Have you been at this all night?" Cornelia's groggy question broke Una from her intense study.
Una looked up from the voluminous tome before her. The muscular human female stood framed by the rough, mobile bookcases filled with other medical texts, wrapped in a drab hospital blanket and rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Yes," Una replied, though not without a bit of annoyance. "Where else would I be?"
The dwarf female from the night before and three other soldiers who had come in that morning had been poisoned by an unknown substance. That was why her healing had been ineffective; that was why the woman's vitals had been so strange. Their symptoms were all the same, so it was likely they were dealing with the same toxin. Now they had a very limited time to figure out what they'd been poisoned with. The anti-venom they had on hand been largely ineffective. They were running out of time.
Now that the fighting was over, the wounded cared for; Una had joined the effort to learn what they were dealing with. It was somewhat frightening. Poison was a topic covered exhaustively in her training. Some of her former instructors were here working side-by-side with renowned alchemists. Between everyone here, herself included, they should have figured it out hours ago.
Landon had already come by with her cloak and much the same start to their conversation. However, that conversation had eventually taken a more useful turn. The human pointed out the Drakkari worshiped a snake god, which had immediately given them at least an idea of where to start. He was out trying to locate the throwing knife the troll had thrown at her from the night before for testing.
"Una, please." The human stepped forward and leaned on the desk. The former Southshore resident was easily stronger and more muscular than many men were. Cornelia filled the narrow space, unintentionally looming. Her hair was down for the first time since they'd been on the ship and yellow-brown tresses fell like waterfalls over her broad shoulders. "I'm saying this to you as a friend, not a fellow soldier or superior. You need take a break."
"Cornelia, you don't get it." Una said. "Do you know how many species of venomous snakes are in and around Stormwind's provinces?"
"I would prefer not." The human replied. "But I imagine you're about to tell me."
"Five." Una stated firmly. "How about spiders? Insects? Plants? I can tell you those too."
Cornelia pinched the bridge of her nose, "So what's your point?"
"The point is: Some of Stormwind's best poison researchers are in these tents and they don't know what we're dealing with!" Una exclaimed. "It's causing the patients to bleed internally like a hemotoxin, but causing the pain and progressive edema of a cytotoxin. However, there are other symptoms that are completely unlike those toxins or even known hybrid toxins. I've never seen anything like it!"
The woman scrunched up her face and then shook her head, "Okay, pretending I know what you just said. Can't you just purge it?"
Una sighed and just stared at the other woman. "Sure, let me get right on it after I manage to walk on water."
Cornelia rolled her eyes, "I saw a Death Knight doing that, want me to get him?"
Una glared at the warrior.
Cornelia ignored the look, "Take a look around. See the other people here?" The human swept her hand out dramatically to indicate other healers as they darted in and out of sight, "They're healers too."
"Landon might be back soon with something for me." Una replied hurriedly, hoping in vain that Cornelia would give up. She wasn't ready to face Anaru – not yet.
The stout woman replied impatiently, "Anyone can run that knife to Finklestein, Una. I'd be shocked if Frost didn't do it himself. Please don't make me get the Captain."
"Wait, how did you –?" Una started to ask and then groaned in exasperation as the most logical answer occurred to her. "Look, you don't need to get him because it's a non-issue. I'm fine! I don't need a break! I'm not sick or injured! I'm where I'm supposed to be!"
The warrior rolled her eyes and then gazed at her with a withering look. The old Una would have wilted and caved under that fixed stare. However, she wasn't here.
"Dutton's cooking this morning." Cornelia finally taunted in a singsong manner, crossing her arms over her buxom chest. Dutton, before war and plague, had run a lively tavern somewhere in Lordaeron. His food was always very good.
Una raised a skeptical eyebrow and sighed, "Ah… threats not working, so let's try bribery?"
"Well, if bribing doesn't work, I can always resort to kidnapping." Cornelia replied without missing a beat.
Una sighed. She wasn't getting away from the human woman easily. Frankly, she was a little hungry. The elf halfheartedly flipped the page, half skimming a page dedicated to the serpents of Zul'Gurub. The text, though fairly recent, still approached the pagan troll gods with skepticism and regarded them as superstition and folklore. The only mentions of them were concerning troll culture and their role in the ritualistic creation of jungle poisons.
"See if Frost can recommend a troll specialist?" Cornelia asked, apparently reading upside-down.
"I wish I could talk to this troll priest I know; he's embedded with the eighty-fifth infantry." Una answered, pushing the book away from her and rising to her feet. "Can't get much more "specialist" than him."
There were a million ways the human woman could have replied, but instead Cornelia said, "Maybe, but what are the chances he'd be scratching his head too?"
Una picked up her cloak and shrugged it over her shoulders. The thought that Faraji wouldn't be able to help was deeply unpleasant. "He'd know what to do," the High Elf blurted.
"So write him." Cornelia replied once again without pause.
Una shook her head, "It's not that simple." The Argent Crusade had to be strategic in the deployment to make the most use of the skills they had on hand. Her friends weren't in this battalion, but in a later wave. Even if the message reached them, any reply would be delayed. "Their battalion is probably at sea. It wouldn't reach him in time."
They picked their way through the tent, moving carefully among rows of beds. Wounded were already starting to come in as skirmishes with the local trolls escalated quickly.
Rune moved among them, a figure of calm in the midst of a storm. Even amid all the chaos and yesterday's skirmish, he managed medics and patients with an ease that made Una feel distinctly lacking. She'd failed him yesterday, though he hadn't said a thing.
Una saluted him as she stepped forward.
Rune returned the salute and chuckled, "Someone finally convinced you to take a break?"
"Just for some food, Sir." Una replied quickly.
"Take time to rest as well." Rune stated firmly, putting his hands on his hips.
Una knew better than try to argue with him and simply replied, "Yes, Sir."
The red-blond healer paused, his face screwed up in an unconvinced expression that turned to displeasure. Why was he looking at her like that? Una fought to keep from fidgeting, even though she knew him well enough to know he would ignore it.
"Randall, do make certain she rests. She can be quite stubborn." Rune said with a sudden amiability, "I fear she's much like our Captain in that regard."
"Don't worry, sir. I'll rock her to sleep with real rocks if I have to."
Una rolled her eyes, exasperated.
Rune uttered a sound of disapproval, as though she were a naughty child, "No, Private. You shall rest or we shall have words." And with that, he raised his eyebrows expectantly at the taller woman beside her.
Cornelia needed no further urging. "Yes, Sir!" She took hold of the elf's arm and pulled hard enough to make Una stagger, "Come on, Whitebrook!" It was a choice of walking or being dragged, so Una allowed the warrior to lead her from the tents.
The light and chill air was shocking after her night in the hospital. The smoke from the many campfires drifted lazily into the overcast sky, the aroma of wood smoke filling her nose. If not for the damage from the skirmish the night before, it'd seem almost peaceful. They'd posted more guards while she'd been inside the hospital; and, visible sentries patrolled the perimeter.
Most of her platoon was gathered around the campfire, working their way through breakfast. The soldiers Anaru had taken on patrol looked to all be present. They appeared relaxed, a good sign nothing else had happened. To her relief, Anaru himself was nowhere to be seen. Hakander and Ash sat a short distance away, conversing. In an odd role reversal, Hakander looked to be brooding, staring deeply into his tin coffee cup and Ash seemed to be stoic, but calm. Landon Frost was once again present and the center of attention.
The aroma of warm spices and baking bread made Una's stomach unexpectedly growl, as though finally reminded it hadn't been filled recently.
"Now, one thing I don't get: zombies." Ludger was saying in his rapid, excited tone. "Wouldn't all the wee carrion nasties deal with the problem before it became a problem? I ain't talkin' rats or birds, mind ye. Animals are right scared of undeath. I mean bugs an' other crawlies."
"Under normal conditions, yes." Frost replied, cradling a steaming cup between cold-reddened hands. He absently rubbed his hand up and down the sleeve of his darkened, pewter-colored mail armor. "Naturally occurring zombification only lasts for the duration of decomposition. Once a zombie reaches putrefaction, locomotion ceases as tissues lose cohesion. Under the right conditions, that duration is less than a week."
"Interesting conversation to walk into." Cornelia remarked dryly.
Frost pulled a note from his sleeve and handed it to Una as she passed without pausing. "On the other hand, zombification via necromancy usually accounts for all factors of decomposition. The spells make the corpse unappealing, slows the rate at which they consume the corpse significantly, kills, and-or actually turns the decomposers as well."
The note was simply a note from Finklestein acknowledging the knife was in his possession and he'd begin alchemical analysis immediately. Una passed the note back to the human, who plucked a cinnamon roll from his plate and handed it to her.
Una happily squeaked her thanks and tore off a hunk.
Cornelia paused behind her and chuckled wryly, "And she doesn't even blink."
Then Una blinked and shook her head, glancing back at the warrior as she sucked sticky cinnamon sauce from her thumb. "I'm sorry, come again?"
"They're talking decomposing bodies and you don't even notice!"
Una shook her head once more as she tore off another piece of cinnamon roll, not quite understanding what the fuss was about. Frost hadn't really gone into that much detail. She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth as she chewed quickly so she could answer, "So my toxins are confusing, but you totally understood what he just said?"
"There's another batch coming off the fire in a moment." Dutton remarked, "Plenty to go around."
"Look: Do you know how many times I've had to shove my hand into dead things?" Cornelia asked emphatically.
"Greater or less than the number of times you've had to dig through piles of poop?" Una smirked as the warrior's face fell, "Seriously, Cornelia, that's all self-inflicted and I have no pity –"
"Hey, don't pay attention to Mule Ears, maybe there's some guys who are into necrophilia too!" Donovan chirped up. "I mean, if you're into that thing. Though I suppose it would be hot."
Perhaps she really was tired. The paladin knew it was an insult, but she just couldn't find anything in her now to feel incensed. Cornelia, on the other hand, gazed at Donovan in disbelief, her jaw hanging open a moment before she shut her eyes.
"And you wonder why I didn't want to leave the hospital." The young elf whispered to the statuesque human, patting her arm.
"That's not even the right word." Cornelia groaned.
Una took a seat near the fire, enjoying the pop and crackle of the campfire and the conversations drifting around her. Her group had always had good chemistry. She loved the way they acted as though they'd known one another their whole lives. The newcomers fit in remarkably well, regardless of what her cousin had told her earlier.
"So then I told him, 'Rectum? Hell! Damn near killed him!'" Bernard Kline roared loudly with a laugh. The former Scarlet was jovial, fond of puns and plays on words. He usually spoke Common with barely any accent. Talking so loudly and so energetically, Una could at last hear the Alterac accent in his voice. For some odd reason, crass statements spoken with thick accents amused her and Kline was no exception.
Ellerton groaned loudly, "Bad joke!"
"No, I prefer my men with a pulse too." Josie remarked above the din.
"Though, I have to admit," Cornelia raised her voice, repeating herself a couple times loudly before continuing, "A few of those Death Knights don't look so dead to me."
"Well-preserved is more like it," Ruth stated. Her back was to Una, but the normally stern dwarven paladin seemed to be in good spirits this morning. "It's no longer a question of real or not but who's the embalmer!"
"Leland!" Cornelia exclaimed loudly as she took her seat, shaking a raised index finger, "Leland! For a dead guy, he's pretty lively."
"Okay, okay, okay!" Josie nearly shouted, "So maybe I wouldn't mind a little down under action from him...!"
"He may or may not be shooting blanks now," Ruth shook her head from side to side in a way Una couldn't hope to reproduce, "but you know damn well he'd be shooting ice cubes!"
"Ladies, you should note he bends the other way." Ashal stated casually as he walked through, his gaze intent on Landon.
"Say what?"
"That's so hot!"
"And… how would you know?"
Ash didn't answer, but the smirk upon his face spoke volumes. That small smile vanished as he reached Landon Frost. He allowed the human to continue speaking, though he was staring at him pointedly.
"Poor lass, ye look tired." Ludger remarked very close.
Una blinked. The dwarf crouched beside her, offering a plate loaded with another steaming cinnamon bun.
"I'm sorry; I guess I zoned out." The young woman exclaimed, accepting the offered plate.
"Distracted is more like it." Dutton chuckled from the other side of the fire where he was tending the rest of their meal. "Light knows Lieutenant Orlinde knows how to get everyone's attention."
"Like ye didn't already know!" Domhnall hollered from his perch upon his steam tank.
"Una, Emberblade said to rest." Cornelia called loudly in a singsong tone. Her irritation seemed to have been short-lived. Donovan was notably and amusingly silent.
"Aye, you should. Like I always say: tis better to be wired than tired." Ludger agreed sagely. Una raised an eyebrow at him; that dwarf could swing from questionable sanity to frustratingly sensible at a moment's notice.
"Can I finish eating?" Una sighed, tearing off a chunk of the bun and tucking it into her mouth. If Dutton's attentiveness to the large pot over the fire was any indication, the rest of the meal was nearing completion. Whatever it was, it smelled hearty and delicious.
An unnerving and abrupt silence settled over the camp. Landon had stopped talking, though he remained upon his log. The tension was palpable.
"So… How is your father?" Ash asked suddenly.
"I was wondering when you'd catch on." Landon rose to his feet and the paladins embraced, laughing, heartily clapping each other on the back. In one instant, they had gone from acquaintances to what seemed like long-lost friends.
The high elf glanced around her and realized she wasn't the only one staring at the exchange.
"Now that's a little creepy." Josie remarked quietly.
"Una! Come here!" Orlinde called in uncharacteristic excitement.
Suddenly stiff, Una rose slowly from her seat near the fire and made her way over to large group surrounding Frost.
"Sir?" Una asked tentatively as she neared.
"I presume you've already met Landon Frost?" Ash began, gesturing to Landon with an outstretched hand.
"I have…" Una answered dubiously, not entirely certain what was happening.
"Ah," Ash grinned as he spoke, an uncharacteristic cheshire smile stretching across his face. "But were you aware he is none other than the son of one Daesin Sutherland?"
"Um, nice to meet you. Again." Una replied, though not without a bit of confusion. How was she supposed to know? She hadn't met many of her grandfather's former apprentices, much less their families.
"Una is Andris's granddaughter." Ashal offered.
Landon shrugged in mild embarrassment and then shot her a wink, "I figured; the resemblance is uncanny – I'm sure you get that all the time."
Ash didn't give her time to respond before he spoke, "Though, I must confess, I didn't recognize you at all."
"Well, I'm probably a bit bigger than you remember…" Landon chuckled.
"Of course. I've slept a few times since then." Ash replied cheerfully, "Though it was your surname that gave me the greatest pause."
"My parents never married." Landon replied dismissively, "Pa made a few enemies and thought it would be best for us to have Ma's name." Although Una didn't know Daesin Sutherland well, she had a hunch that it was a gross understatement for him to go to that extreme given the societal taboos.
"Ah, so that explains it. A wise decision." The dark haired Sin'dorei agreed with a nod, "Speaking of your father; I trust he is well? Anaru and I lost touch with him."
"He's well." Landon offered by way of explanation. "Finally caught You-Know-Who so he's been laying low. I can't tell you much more, I'm afraid."
"No need. It's good to know his persistence was ultimately rewarded." The senior paladin held his hands out as though to block any further discussion. "Have you caught up with Anaru yet?"
"No, I haven't but not from lack of trying." Landon made a face, "I've slept a few times myself, but has he always been so…?" He seemed to struggle with the words he wished to say.
"Unfortunately." Ash briefly pinched the bridge of his nose and cast Una an apologetic glance, "He has always sought to save others, though sometimes without asking if they actually need saving. He's presently seeking to save certain individuals by removing them entirely."
Despite Ash's roundabout way of saying it, the meaning wasn't lost on Landon. The raised eyebrow gave way to an expression of sympathy. "I'm sorry," he muttered.
Una shifted uncomfortably. That was just blurted out in the middle of camp for everyone to hear.
"Maybe you can request a transfer." Landon offered helpfully, "That way your commander can focus on the matters at hand."
The sudden rush of hope nearly made her startle. She hadn't been aware she could do that within the Argent Crusade, but it might just work! Anaru could concentrate and she could still be of use to the army without worrying all the time. Una looked at the human in excitement. She had so many questions; she'd never done anything like that before.
"That won't be necessary, but thank you."
Una felt her jaw drop. She looked up at Ash in shock and anger. His expression hadn't changed, but there was a tension to the Blood Elf's muscular frame.
Landon seemed to sense that his suggestion had been summarily dismissed. "So how is Talaerion these days?"
"It was great talking to you." Una muttered, slipping back to her spot by the fire.
The High Elf ate her dinner in angry silence and retreated to her tent. Tears threatened even as she closed the tent flap behind her.
She felt trapped. Trapped and smothered. Anaru and Ash; though for completely different motives, had both taken the choice from her. It was her parents all over again. It seemed as though only her Uncle and Hiram wanted to allow her to choose. Everyone else around her was determined that their choices and opinions were the only right ones. She was so angry and there wasn't anything she could do about it.
Sleep found her eventually, but her rest was far from peaceful. Dreams, as always, plagued her sleep.
"Five more minutes..." Una groaned sleepily as someone shook her shoulder. Cold air flooded her tent, penetrating her warm cocoon of blankets and bed roll.
"Lass!" Bergi's voice said urgently, "Ye need to get up now."
"What time is it?" Una groaned once more, hoping to stall for time. It couldn't be time to rise.
"Lass, Sergeant Emerblade needs ye in the hospital!"
"I found her notes." Rune's distant voice was oddly melancholy. Bergi allowed the canvas to swing shut as the elf continued, "My apologies."
There was a long pause before the battle priest sighed heavily, "So we lost them, did we?"
The young woman's sleep-fogged mind was both irritated, confused, and a little overwhelmed by the sudden activity. "What?"
"Sorry to wake you, Private." Rune said in that maddeningly cheerful, mild tone of his. "I couldn't find your notes. Please, go back to sleep."
"Lost who?" Sleep was rapidly fleeing before the fresh rush of anger and dread. Una's heart was starting to pound in her chest. Cold bit into her bare arms and feet as she scrambled from the warm comfort of her tent.
The men looked exhausted and crestfallen. Rune was disheveled, looking as though he'd been pulled from sleep himself.
"The poison victims, lass." Bergi sighed.
Una shook her head and said lamely, "They were stable when I left…" No, it was very possible. She had deteriorated rapidly within a few hours. "When?"
"The last perished a few minutes ago." Rune said faintly. He unenthusiastically stroked a lock of oddly curled hair to straighten it.
Una helplessly glanced around the camp. In the time she'd slept, everyone had left on his or her various duties.
"Did we ever figure out what it was?" Bergi prompted, motioning to the Sin'dorei for more information.
"When I left, Frost was on his way to check in with Finklestein." Rune answered, taking a seat near the fire. He leaned forward, propping his elbow against his knee, and resting his face upon his hand. "Sergeant Major Casey is to oversee the autopsies."
"Damn." Bergi spat with contempt. He paused, looking at her feet. His eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Lass! Put some boots on before you freeze!"
Una complied, sitting back inside her tent to slide thick socks and then her boots over her chilled feet. She knew she'd lose patients here, that wasn't the issue. Rather, it was the sting of another failure. Anaru would be livid.
"I screwed up again." Una sighed heavily, pulling her blanket over her shoulders.
"Private, unless, perhaps, you poisoned them yourself, you are not responsible for all ills that befall this world." Rune growled in irritation, shifting his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.
Una rested her hands upon her ankles and cast her gaze at the ground, "I guess you didn't hear about the Death Knight?"
"Oh, I heard." Rune said sardonically, his voice taking on a feigned cheerful tone. "Because it just makes perfect sense to place someone traumatized by a Death Knight in close quarters with one."
They fell into silence. The chill wind moaned, cutting through the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Una shrugged the blanket off and began to put her armor back on.
"Well, time to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps." Bergi announced tiredly. "Shall we say a wee prayer?"
"Of course." Rune said, rising with a faint grunt. "Let us give her a moment to finish."
Una gathered up her mace and shield and crawled from the tent.
She took her place next to the two other healers, her voice mechanically reciting the prayers for the lost soldiers. However, the words rang hollow and trite. Words that at one point would have given her mind and heart comfort only made her feel all the more adrift. Una hadn't even gone to mass since before she went on the ill-fated journey north. It occurred to her that she hadn't even so much as prayed. Moreover, she never even missed it.
"So where are you off to, lass?" Bergi asked gently when they finished, his kindly face a portrait of concern.
"Your shift doesn't begin for another few hours." Rune added as he took his seat once again, "You should rest while you can."
"To find answers, Sir." Una answered. It was truthful enough. She intended to find answers to some questions she had; it was their fault if they assumed the wrong subject matter. "I don't like being in the dark."
"Would you like me to go with?" Bergi asked with irritating sincerity.
"Sure, why not. Everyone else seems to think I'm a buffle-brained little girl." Una retorted sarcastically. She knew she was being insubordinate, but she didn't really care.
Rune hung his head suddenly as though stunned before sitting back up. He gazed at her tiredly, "You have every right to be angry, but please choose your words carefully outside the three of us."
"I'm sorry if you took that wrong." Bergi said apologetically. "We're just in troll lands and I thought –"
"I know!" Una snapped and then took a deep breath, repeating herself more softly, "I know. I just… I can't deal with this right now. Look, I…" Una heaved a heavy sigh as Bergi's face fell, "Just forget about it."
"Una!" Rune rose and crossed the distance between them in swift, confident strides. For a moment, she thought he might embrace her as he'd often done before they left Silvermoon. He seemed to think better of it and simply laid a hand on her shoulder instead, "Be careful."
She knew there was more he wanted to say, but he wasn't going to say it. Una nodded once more and shrugged out from under his hand. The elf turned her back to the men and strode away.
Una had plenty of time to talk to Landon before she had to report back to the hospital, but she should also go talk to Finklestein so she'd have a plausible excuse. She also wanted to have more time to rest before she went in too.
A sense of angry purpose dominated her mind. It chased away the storm of dangerous emotions that robbed her of her ability to think. She could act on this anger, which kept the tears from flowing. Hadn't they figured out she wasn't helpless? No, they wouldn't see this coming. Of that, Una was confident.
"No more." The thoughts erupted from her lips unexpectedly but it felt good.
Her eyes fell on Domhnall's siege engine. The moment the keys had been turned over to the dwarf, he had rarely been away from the machine longer than it took to relieve himself. Even relaxing, he often perched atop it like some kind of bearded hawk. There might be a chance he knew where Landon had gone.
Even now, she could see him working at the top of the steam-powered machine, checking and rechecking the massive gun emplacement.
She jogged over to the tank.
"Dom!" Una called up to the engineer. The roar of the engines nearly drowned her voice entirely out and she had to call up to the dwarf repeatedly until she got his attention.
Domhnall held a hand up to his ear, "What?"
"Where's Frost?" Una yelled to him.
"What?"
"Where's Frost?" She repeated, putting all her might into the yell as her frustration grew. This may not have been the best idea.
"What?"
"Frost!" Una bellowed, fighting to keep her voice low and not pitch it too shrilly.
"Aye?"
"Where is he?" Una called, but the racket of a power tool drowned her voice out completely.
Dom held a finger up to her to ask her to wait and poked his head down the hatch. Mountainhand bellowed down into the machine while drawing his fingers across his throat to signal them to cut the tool, "Which?"
"Frost!" Una repeated a final time. If she couldn't get an answer, she'd have to find someone else to ask. "Where is Frost?"
The former marine gave an exaggerated shrug before bellowing, "Below!" He pointed down to the ruins of the former troll village.
Una grimaced and called her thanks to the engineer. The village was the last place she wanted to go. She didn't want to face the aftermath of the culling; however, it made sense Frost would be down there searching for clues. The poisons may have been concocted down there. If he could find more poison or even some in the process of being made, they'd better understand what they had to do to formulate an antidote.
The High Elf gazed dispassionately at the top of the stairs and briefly tossed around the idea of getting Vesper. It would be easy going down the steps, but going back up them would be another matter. Her stamina had mostly recovered, but she knew she'd rediscover her limits climbing the stairs.
Thick, black smoke rose in dense clouds and blocked out the wan sunlight that filtered past the edge of the clouds overhead. It would be bad enough she'd have to breathe that in, she decided against subjecting her charger to it too. Not when there was a real likelihood of him dying up here during this campaign.
Halfway down the stairs, she made a realization. The teams working on clearing the corpses were solidly Ebon Blade. There wasn't a gray tabard or doublet to be seen; not a single shred of white or silver armor. It was a sea of ominous, black armor and undead minions.
Una grimaced and nearly turned back around. No, she had to find Landon. If she waited, she might never get another chance to speak with him alone.
He'd been wearing his chain mail last time she saw him. Not that his dull, pewter-colored armor would stand out any better but it would be a color difference. She went from one side of the step to the other, trying to spot anyone or anything out of place.
There was a glimmer in a small courtyard to the north. Death Knights didn't glimmer. Una bounced on the tips of her toes, trying to get a better glimpse of the figure between the smoke and pine boughs.
It looked kind of like a human in loose chainmail.
"Bingo!" Una said to herself in victory. She looked both ways and then over the ledge. The pavers were still a good twenty, maybe thirty feet below her.
There was no one nearby to say "no" and no one to chide her for being reckless.
The High Elf climbed up onto the ledge, swinging one leg and then the other over the ornamental stonework. She licked her lips as she tried to gauge her distance. She could do this. All she had to do was miss six inches of stonework and she'd land safely at the bottom.
Una jumped.
Wind whistled past her ears. She cried out for the Light. A shield of holy energy enveloped her. Pavers littered with pine needles rushed towards her. Her feet and then hands stung slightly as she landed.
Una fought not to laugh; giddy from the rush of adrenaline and the successful gamble. Dusting pine needles from her hands and knees, she spun and looked above her head at where she'd been seconds before. "What a rush!" she whispered to herself in elation.
Now that she was down, she looked around herself. There were no undead nearby. Good. Una intended to keep it that way. She picked her way along the wall, far away from the undead creatures milling around the village like a locust swarm.
Her nerves nearly failed her as she entered the courtyard. It was indeed Landon and he looked busy.
"Hey," Una greeted the paladin faintly. Light, there were so many Death Knights down here. The young woman cast an uneasy glance over her shoulder.
"Oh, hey!" He replied before she could turn back around. "What's up?"
Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Everything down here seemed to echo. The sounds of the Death Knights working, the clatter of bone and steel of their unliving minions all seemed to have a certain echo to them. Una didn't want to think too much on even how her own voice echoed. It made her nervous to the point she was fighting the urge to keep looking over her shoulder.
"I don't know where to start," Una sighed, "I'm having a problem with my platoon."
"Well, best place to start is at the beginning." Frost grunted, stepping on a stout branch and bending it towards himself to break it. "Unless you're my brother; then you start the story in the middle."
In spite of her exhaustion and anxiety, Una giggled. No wonder everyone enjoyed talking with Frost. "Don't you just love family?"
"Aye! There are times the urge to hug and strangle are one in the same." The paladin lashed his broken branch to what Una realized was a pyre. Perhaps for a fallen soldier?
Una cast her gaze to the ground, half fearing his rejection, and began to recount her difficulties since making landfall. She tried not to spare any details, from Anaru and Ash's over protectiveness, to her difficulties with Cole Donovan, and Hakander's sudden aloofness.
Landon remained mostly silent as he continued working on the pyre, though he nodded and made noises to indicate he was listening as Una continued. Emboldened, Una even went so far as to breach the topic of Ash's infatuation with her.
There was a tickle in her throat. Una cleared her throat and tried to continue speaking, "I'm so afraid Anaru is going to send me home." She fought to continue as the urge to cough grew until she could no longer resist. Once started, she coughed until she could hardly breathe.
"You okay?"
Una nodded, sucked in a deep breath, and croaked the words to a healing spell. As the warm energy washed through her lungs, the coughing finally subsided.
"You should go," The human said as Una caught her breath. "This is no place for the living.
"What about you?" Una asked, disturbed by the idea that Landon would tell her to go but risk himself.
The human glanced over his shoulder at her. Icy blue fire burned where his eyes should be.
"Landon?" Una stammered. She'd just seen him earlier! He couldn't have died and been turned so fast! The Scourge couldn't have!
"Leland." The unliving knight corrected, "Landon's brother." He chuckled the humorless, dead laugh of the Scourge. "We're twins, so we get that all the time. Nice to meet you…" He stepped forward, his palm outstretched.
"Stay away from me!" Una snarled, stepping back from him and settling into a defensive stance.
"Okay," the undead thing said with hands held up as though in surrender. "I won't hurt you. Just breathe…"
"Like that's ever stopped you monsters!" Una snarled as the knight slowly backed away from her. It was a ruse! Every time it was a ruse!
He stayed like that for a long moment, his hands held up where she could see them. "You must have really been though something."
"Your kind is all alike!" Una exclaimed, her voice coming out in almost a moan.
"I won't even come close." Ashen hands slowly lowered and undid his belt. He allowed it to fall to the pavers and he shoved it away with the toe of his boot. The straps across his chest and the sword fastened to them joined it a moment later. "I know, you're –"
"You know nothing!" She snapped.
"You're right. I don't." Landon Frost's brother said with an impossible gentleness. "I bet you're a Whitebrook, though. You look like Andris."
"Shut up!" Una howled.
"Whatever you're going through, they're about as tough as they come. You'll be just fine." Those hands beckoned her to lower her mace, "Let's both take a deep breath. You're in control."
Despite not wanting to obey, Una took that deep breath. Leland Frost had lowered his hands and was regarding her calmly. Slowly, he turned his back to her and made his way back to his pile of branches.
Una's gaze fell upon a worn blanket off to the side. It wasn't a sight she hadn't seen before, but the form beneath it was heartbreakingly, frighteningly small. She strafed carefully over until she could lift the edge of the blanket with the tip of her boot.
It was a baby.
Not just any baby. It was the child she'd seen earlier, perched on her mother's hip and playing with her necklace.
"Light damn you!" Una screamed in anger and horror. "How could you?"
"They were following orders," said the unliving monster before her, standing up straight to look at her. There was a branch in his hand. Una could easily envision it as a makeshift weapon. "Trust me..."
"Like a baby was a threat!" Una snarled, holding her mace and shield in anticipation of attack. He would surely attack her now, just as her Great Uncle did and just like the Death Knight from before. "Spare me! Lie to yourself if you wish but this was murder!"
"No. This is what Arthas has reduced us to." The Death Knight replied quietly, "To break his flow of fresh troops, we must... cull... those tainted before they turn."
"'Cull?'" Una echoed, "Like they were little more than nuisance animals? Like they're less than living beings with every right to live?"
The monster with Landon's face sighed and cast his malevolent, blazing gaze to the eternally stormy sky overhead. He stayed like that for a time, as though searching for the answer among the boiling clouds.
"Yeah," Leland Frost said with resignation at last before lashing that final branch in place with a bit of frayed and worn rope. "Exactly like that."
Una stared at him in horror, her lip curling in disgust. She dropped to her knees to see if she could at least tell how the child died.
"I already checked." He didn't move from his spot; didn't come to crouch beside her; didn't so much as move. "She didn't suffer. Whoever did it made sure of that."
Touch and magic confirmed what he said was true. The baby had died so fast, she likely never knew what happened. One moment she was alive and sick; the next on her way to whatever afterlife the trolls believed in.
Una traced the child's cheek a gloved finger. Troll or not, Drakkari or not; it shouldn't have ended like this.
"It's time." The Death Knight said suddenly.
Una looked up from the troll baby. The dead Frost brother had turned around to face her, but didn't approach. He nodded to the tiny corpse.
Una cautiously backed off, never turning her back on the unliving knight. He lifted the tiny body, tenderly cradling the baby as though she were still alive. Unease once again washed through her.
Stones crunched and leather creaked as Leland turned his back on her and slowly walked back to platform of branches. After carefully laying the baby upon the pyre, he knelt and stayed like that for a long time.
"I couldn't handle seeing her laying there." His voice was so soft; it didn't seem possible it was coming from a Death Knight. "Discarded like a piece of trash. It was disgusting."
He drew his flint and steel from a pouch on his belt and regarded them for several long moments. "A part of me reveled in it." The dead paladin struck the flint hard, far harder than he needed to, "And this is what Arthas has reduced me to."
It almost sounded like he was disgusted? Remorseful? Una shook her head. No, that couldn't be possible. Death Knights were the Scourge's greatest weapon.
Landon's brother struck it again, his face lost in his own dark thoughts. What memory had their exchange brought to the surface? The way Cornelia had spoken, he sounded anything but the type to brood…
No, no, no! Una shook her head. Death Knights were monsters. They murdered countless people in their service to the Lich King. Their assistance here was a ruse, nothing more than that. They'd betray them to their dark master once they were to the point of no return.
The wind changed direction and thick, acrid smoke started to fill the courtyard. It carried with it the reek of roasting flesh, sickness, and death. The young elf woman felt the tickle return and she started to cough.
"Go." Leland told her without turning around. "Before you hurt yourself."
Una took one, final look at the Death Knight. He was trying once more to light the pyre. The young paladin nearly walked away; nearly left him to his task of lighting the pyre with sparks too cool to set the tinder ablaze.
The decision was made so fast, it caught her by surprise as a tiny bolt of holy fire leaped from her outstretched fingertips and sailed in a neat arc into the pyre. Within moments, a lazy plume of smoke reached for the heavens.
It would have been so easy for it to strike him instead. Still, Leland Frost didn't move. She heard him mutter his thanks.
The High Elf woman then fled, unable to cope with what she was seeing. As she hurried up the stairs, fires from the burial pits were growing. Massive pits filled with burning trolls. All burning together, save for one baby girl.
Each step grew harder, giving her more and more time to smell, hear, and see those horrible fires. To think on what Leland Frost had told her.
As she neared the top, a lone figure came into view. Massive and bald, an equally massive, square, spiked shield upon the figure's back. A hand, every bit as large as the rest of him was bent, holding something tiny and silver.
Hakander was waiting for her.
Una hung her head, defeated and crestfallen. She braced herself for another dressing down as she trudged up the final stairs.
"Sir." Una greeted, issuing him a weak salute. Her back ached and that final step felt like a huge undertaking. The muscles in her legs twitched and pulsed the way they used to when she was still regaining her strength. Her sinuses had become congested and her voice hoarse from the smoke.
"Private." The Draenei extended his hand to her.
She glanced down at it and back up at the Vindicator in confusion. "Sir?"
"Come. Walk with me." The Draenei's voice was gentle and patient to a fault. Hakander hadn't spoken this much since they made landfall and it was more like the way he used to speak to her.
Una accepted his hand, the other paladin supporting her as she took that final step.
"What were you doing down there?" He asked as she caught her breath.
"Trying to find Warrant Officer Landon Frost, Sir." Una answered dutifully. A surge of fear made her blurt edgily, "What is this about?"
The massive, bald paladin heaved a sigh. "Private, I understand you're considering requesting a transfer to another platoon." Hakander said cautiously. "I'm here to talk you off the ledge."

Author's Note: Thanks again to KooriRoninHeart for proofreading my story and for reminding me to check my thesaurus! Love you, Sis! Thanks to FS and wanderingaddict for your wonderful reviews! It's much appreciated!
Next Chapter: Walen hoped to forget what happened in Outland, but it's about to catch up with him.
- 17
- 18
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