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Both Sides Now	By : Firefall_Varuna Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 4997 -:- 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
- 8
- 9
- 10
Author's Note: This chapter is rated Mature due to graphic violence and depictions of traumatic injuries.
I'd like to thank Rooietroll for your wonderful review! Your reviews always make me smile. Thank you so much! Also thank you to everyone who have added this story to your favorites or alerts!
I'd also like to thank KooriRoninHeart for beta reading this for me. Thanks, Sis! Love you!

Chapter 9 – Plaguelands
"Of all the elves I've met," Captain Garrack Backbreaker rumbled in amusement as he helped her to her feet. "I have never met one that manages to be as clumsy as you are."
Una blushed as the Orc went to retrieve her sword and lantern for her, unsure of what to say. She busied herself with dusting herself off and doing a cursory check for injuries. She found only minor injuries and quickly used a bit of mana to repair them.
"Managed to get through that skirmish out in the Barrens without a scratch, but you perform a face plant in my home. That, girl, takes talent." The broadly grinning Orc offered her sword back to her pommel first.
Una gratefully accepted it. She sheathed it and then stared awkwardly at the Captain for several moments. She pulled her pendant through the neckline of her armor and fidgeted with it.
"Eh… That was fast; I was expecting to have to come down. You pass?" Garrack rumbled, casting a glance back into the tomb. As with the mission in the Barrens, he didn't seem to mind her awkwardness. There was no way he couldn't not notice.
"Yes, Sir!" She replied enthusiastically. "I can't believe I did it, there were so many coming at me from all sides and then Lord…" The Orc's rich, loud, full-throated laugh caught her by surprise and she stopped talking.
"You'll have to recount your glorious battle to me over a few drinks sometime." He motioned to the Chapel and began to walk, "In the meantime, there's no time for celebration."
"Oh, no!" Una groaned wearily, trotting after the Orc. "What now?"
"Plague." The dark haired warrior grunted from ahead of her. He handed her lantern off to a sentry without breaking step. "In all the cities. Guessing tainted grain again."
"Oh, shit!" Una exclaimed, her eyes wide with fear. She sped up to fall into step with him.
Backbreaker nodded, ""Oh, shit" is right. Orgrimmar and Stormwind are going to be hit hard. Flour is used in everything. Where's your unit?"
"Stormwind…" She whimpered. Dread surged up from the pit of her stomach. Hiram, her parents, her cousin, her unit, her friends… everyone she knew and cared about was in danger.
"Don't go all panicky on me, Betsy." The Captain said, once again surprising her with his even, paternal tone. "We have time. We're talking a handful of cases in each city right now. There will be multiple units there by now."
He opened the chapel door and held it for her. Abandoning pretenses, Una ducked under his arm and slipped inside.
Word seemed to have only just arrived. The maps had been abandoned and Lord Tyrosus was talking rapidly to a group of Argent Dawn clerics. She noted the mages were no longer present and neither were the Crusaders or the Brotherhood of the Dawn.
When he dismissed the clerics, Lord Maxwell Tyrosus saluted Captain Backbreaker and then Una as they did the same, "Thank you for retrieving her, Captain."
"Not a problem." The Captain said simply, "She passed."
"Congratulations, Private." The human stated with a nod, "I wish we had time for a proper ceremony or for your paperwork, but you need to rejoin your unit."
"Thank you, Sir." Una replied, "Captain Backbreaker briefed me a little on our way back here."
"Excellent." He nodded, "Our mages are out collecting our other units from around the world, so I'm afraid this won't be a simple..."
She wasn't sure whether it was appropriate given the situation, but she interrupted, "Begging your pardons, Milord, Captain… but I was supposed to go to Silvermoon from here to ask my Uncle for a portal."
Garrack gave a grunt of approval, "Guess that solves that."
"So it seems." Lord Tyrosus stated with an approving nod of his own. "And what of you, Captain?"
"Might solve mine too." Backbreaker rumbled, "Private, do you think your Uncle would mind helping my team back to Orgrimmar? Frees up the mages to keep troops flowing."
Una couldn't possibly see a reason her Uncle would be troubled, "I doubt he'd mind, Sir."
"Then if you don't mind, my men and I will ride with you." Captain Backbreaker inclined his head, "We would be in your debt."
"I would be honored." Una winced inwardly she once again spoke more confidently than she felt. Garrack, Dagan, and Tallak had been one thing; her entire unit had been with her. This time, she was alone.
"Very well, it sounds as though everything is in order." Lord Tyrosus said with a nod. "Congratulations again, Private Whitebrook. Dismissed."
"Thank you, Sir." Una saluted both males, feeling distinctly ill-at-ease.
As she turned to leave, Garrack caught her arm. "Tallak and my men are on the west side of the chapel." He rumbled softly, "We ride at noon."
The elf woman gave a slight nod, feeling her anxiety increasing. It seemed as though fate wanted to prevent her from making any plans ahead. She didn't know Garrack well, but that gave her little time to prepare.
Barely out of the chapel and she could already see the wild-haired Orc seated upon a log near a campfire, slicing a large hunk of unidentifiable meat into steaks. A grate had been set over the fire and a large cook-pot was bubbling away. She removed her helm as she approached so he could clearly see who she was. So far, she could only see the hunter.
"Tallak!" She called; horrified when she stammered his name instead of the pleasant greeting she wanted. Una prayed he couldn't hear her, so she could try again.
The Orc lifted his head and gazed around. His wolf stood up and sniffed the air. His dark eyes landed on her and then he smiled, holding his palm up in greeting, "Throm'ka!"
"Hello." Una grimaced inwardly as her voice once again sounded timid. When she drew near, she stammered, "I guess I'm… er… I mean you're…" A lanky, yellow-haired forest Troll in dusty leathers appeared from the general direction of the privies and she suddenly felt herself freeze, like a deer before a hunter.
"Brain in gear before putting mouth in motion." Tallak commented softly, stirring the pot before returning to the meat. It was a common enough phrase among Gnomes and Dwarves, but hearing it come from an Orc was simply bizarre.
"The Captain says I'm riding with you." She finally managed to blurt. The elf absently stroked his wolf's head as it sniffed her gloved hands.
"Good." The quiet hunter remarked. There was nothing in his tone to indicate anything regarding how he felt. "To Silvermoon?"
"Yeah…" Una sat down on the opposite side of the log and fidgeted with her pendant as the Troll sauntered into camp.
The Troll pointed to her and gargled something in Orcish. Tallak grunted in response.
"So what is that... exactly?" Una asked nervously, pointing at the slabs of meat. It didn't look like any meat she had consumed before and certainly didn't smell like it. Bits of blubber-like fat clung to the discarded bits Tallak's wolf was ravenously eating.
The hunter was digging through a worn leather pack, glancing at bottles of herbs and spices. She wasn't coming up with many ideas for food sources in this area. Hiram had once told her even fish could be questionable in these parts due to the Blight.
"Carrion grub." Tallak answered succinctly, "Disgusting, but edible."
Una wrinkled her nose as the hunter scattered herbs and salt across the meat. Carrion grubs were massive, mutated maggots and the idea she was about to eat one made her stomach feel distinctly unpleasant. The Troll's abrupt cackle made her flinch.
He said something in Orcish that made Tallak chuckle. The Troll's smile was dismaying as his lips flexed around his large, sharp-looking tusks.
"It's just one meal." The hunter said around a smirk with far too much teeth for her liking as well.
Una tucked a loose strand of brown hair behind an ear and cast her gaze at the ground. She was being foolish and she knew it. With so little resources in the way of safe food and potable water, you had to eat whatever you were presented. She pressed the palms of her hands to her face and stayed like that for several moments.
She heard a series of sizzles as the meat was placed on the grate over the fire.
A deep, surprisingly calm voice inquired in Orcish. Tallak responded and she heard another, higher pitched voice answer in garbled tones come from slightly further away.
Una looked up to see a light brown and white Tauren clad in the green and gold leathers of a druid looking curiously at her. Behind him, another Troll was making his way in. Like the first Troll, this Troll's hair was violently yellow but he was balding and clad in dusty green robes. His face was covered in flaking white and yellow face paint.
Tallak began to speak in Orcish and soon Una distinctly heard her name. She realized he was introducing her and nervously stood. They nodded at her as she bowed deeply.
"Una, this is Faraji, our healer." He nodded to the balding Troll. "Best damn priest I know. If you want to talk shop, I can try to translate."
"Next up: Otieno… he's Faraji's kid." He pointed at the Troll still sitting on the other side of the fire. Otieno waved cheerfully, still smirking at her. "We all call him "Dizzy" and you're welcome to as well. He's an idiot, but a fine rogue."
"Last is Nantan." The druid bowed deeply as Tallak pointed to him, "He's not normally with us; he's an old friend of mine."
The priest, Faraji, reached out and took her hands in his. She swallowed nervously as the balding Troll looked her up and down. Finally he asked something in Orcish.
Tallak grunted a simple answer as he knelt to tend to their meal.
The priest seemed delighted by his answer and he bowed to her. Faraji then released her and moved to sit by his son. A deck of playing cards was produced and they were quickly dealt between the two Trolls and the druid.
"Stir the rice." Tallak ordered and she dropped to kneel beside him. In between clouds of steam, she could see the rice was approaching the end of cooking. "He knows your brother."
Una didn't have the heart to tell him Anaru wasn't her brother. She was tired and the thought of once again explaining their relation didn't appeal to her. Tallak didn't need to know anyway. "I think everyone does."
The hunter nodded, inspecting the meat. Neat grill marks had appeared on the bottom, but it was still rather colorless. He muttered peevishly in Orcish.
"Throm'ka." Captain Backbreaker greeted as he strode up. In his hands was a small stack of wooden shingles, "How's the grub coming?" He was clearly proud of his pun; the amusement in his tone clearly evident.
From her several days here, Una knew that shingles were what passed for plates here. The only proper plates left were zealously guarded by Miss Chambers.
"Shit doesn't even caramelize." Tallak grumbled, glaring at Garrack.
"Una, don't let him fool you." Backbreaker sat the shingles down and made himself comfortable on the log behind them. "Tallak is probably the best cook I know."
The rice had absorbed most of the water and she gave it one last stir before she took the cook-pot off the fire.
They ate in comfortable silence. Garrack was right; Tallak had at least managed to make the carrion grub meat tolerable. However, her stomach ruefully pined for the delicious sausage she'd dined on at Backbreaker's farm.
By noon, they were picking their way to the road. That made Una nervous, given Anaru's warning to stay off said road.
Hours stretched by, but she'd yet to see a single undead. Garrack and his men were in good spirits, jovially chatting away at each other in Orcish.
"You never told me your dog's name…" Una said to Tallak, attempting a weak smile. She hated not being able to understand anyone. The constant Orcish chatter did nothing to help her nerves either. It only served to unpleasantly remind her that she was among members of the Horde.
"Wolf." Tallak corrected and then added, "He's called Dust."
"Dust and Snow… cute." Una mused.
"Yeah, my son named mine and my daughter named Dagan's." Tallak said quietly with a shrug.
"So how old are…?" Una started to ask, but the hunter swept his hand out in a gesture indicating his wanted quiet.
The others stopped and waited.
At last Tallak spoke in hushed Orcish.
Garrack barked an order. Dizzy saluted him with a "Zug zug!" and dismounted, vanishing into the brush just off the edge of the road.
Una rubbed Vesper's neck to soothe the stallion and herself. The horse quivered under her, his tail squishing feverishly. The Plaguelands were eerily quiet and ominously dark storm clouds boiled in the sky, already gaining a faintly sallow hue from the rising Plaguemist.
The minutes stretched onward. She felt her anxiety mounting. The others were clearly feeling edgy as well.
Faraji was fingering a carved, red, wooden fetish that hung from his belt, beads of sweat visible on the bald crown of his head. He stared in the direction his son went, his jaw firm. Nantan seemed as calm as ever, except for a finger that nervously tapped the edge of his saddle.
Garrack's face had set itself into a fearsome scowl and his eyes were steely. Una swallowed nervously as they looked almost on the verge of going red. The Captain could change attitudes as fast as Esmea could. This wasn't the comforting, paternal Orc she had started becoming accustomed to.
Tallak's lips were curled away from his teeth as he tried to look everywhere at once. Dust was bristling, but otherwise silent. From her earlier mission, she could tell he sensed enemies nearby but couldn't exactly pinpoint where.
Dizzy was panting as he vaulted back through the brush. He spoke urgently, his eyes wide in alarm. He rambled a long statement in Orcish, gesturing as he spoke.
"What is it?" Una asked Tallak in a whisper as the Troll continued talking.
"A platoon of Death Knights," Tallak whispered back to her, pausing as he listened further. "East. Nearby and moving closer."
Una shuddered. A platoon numbered roughly sixteen to twenty-six troops, depending on the organization. "That's a lot of Death Knights."
"We're avoiding combat." Garrack rumbled quickly. He began to give orders in Orcish.
Una sucked in a breath as he made a gesture she was familiar with. It was the same gesture Anaru made during escort missions. It was a silent signal which meant to surround the person they were escorting in a protective ring. Heavy melee to point, ranged to back. Sure enough, she was soon in the middle of the group.
"This was never was a "ride with you" was it?" Una asked Captain Backbreaker in alarm, her whisper pitched shrilly with fear. "This was a mission!"
If the Orc heard her, he gave no indication as they moved out. They rode quickly, but quietly due West through thick scrub and deeper into the back-country. They were well away from the road before they changed course back north.
An equine scream echoed in the distance.
Vesper bucked and lurched under her, nearly unseating the elf. Nantan caught his bridle and held him firm for her.
Tallak spoke quickly and urgently. He stopped talking abruptly and listened.
The hunter suddenly growled a single word in Orcish: "Kagh!" He repeated it, stronger and more urgently. The Tauren once more grasped Vesper's bridle and they were off.
Una looked around her panic as they sped into a gallop. Nantan released her horse and bent over the reins of his kodo. Behind them, more equine screams echoed across the countryside.
The Death Knights were soon within view behind them. She felt a sense of dread overtake her as she crouched low in the saddle. She startled as a loud clatter came from behind her. Tallak had discarded his cooking gear, leaving the pack and pans to tumble to a stop in their dust.
They were still more than an hour from the Ghostlands by her measure. Garrack led them down into a steep ravine. The rocky walls and brush sped by; dead branches snagged their clothes and gear and lashed their faces.
They came out and veered sharply left. They raced through a long abandoned farm field. There was no cover here, only the burnt foundations of a house and barn broke the landscape for nearly a mile. Beyond that lay a heavily diseased thicket. The small band urged their mounts faster as they crossed the field, aiming straight for the thicket.
Garrack led them under the dense trees, slowing slightly as they entered. What at first glance had appeared to be a thicket were actually dense woods. The Blight was harsh here, the trees bloating unnaturally with the corruption. Others lay in splinters, as though they had exploded from the weight of disease.
Rising fog lay before them as the terrain turned slightly rocky and the density of the trees increased. Unnaturally large mushrooms spouted among the dead and diseased pine trees. The paladin frowned deeply as they passed a small, fetid pool of water. The water churned and bubbled loudly; the smell of sulfur and Blight rose as one, stinging her nose. She realized it was a hot spring and the source of the fog.
Una looked up and sucked in an alarmed breath. A thick coating of spider webs in a sickly orange color covered the boughs above their heads like a shroud. It stretched on for as far as she could see, covering every twig and needle.
"Slow down… we'll use the fog for cover…" Garrack said in Common. He spoke again in Orcish, she guessed repeating himself.
"Private, wrap your horse's hooves in rags. We're going to begin drifting towards Plaguewood in twenty minutes." Backbreaker whispered. "Keep noise and talking to a bare minimum."
Una dismounted and accepted some rags from Faraji. Vesper was fidgeting, his tail swishing madly. She knelt and began to wrap his hooves in hopes of deadening the noise they made.
An eerie scream echoed in the distance. Her horse flinched, his eyes rolling, repeatedly pricking his ears and then flattening them to his skull
Satisfied the rags were secure, she stood and grasped the saddle to remount.
The world exploded in a cacophonous shriek. Una screamed, throwing her helm to the ground and clapping her hands to her besieged ears. It rippled through her in a wave of pain, like barbed wire being pulled taunt around her skull. She stumbled backwards. Above the ringing in her ears came the scream of a terrified horse. Something struck her chest with enough force to send her reeling. She felt fur behind her. Faraji's hands snapped around her upper arm to steady her as a banshee fell before the men's attacks.
Una closed her eyes and shook her head to clear it. When she opened her eyes again, Vesper was a pale form in the distance as he galloped between the trees. She soon lost sight of her charger in the fog and Plaguemist.
Una gasped for air, clutching her armored chest as Garrack remounted and dragged her up into the saddle. He urged his worg into a full gallop. She gazed, stricken, in the direction Vesper had gone as they barreled through the wilderness.
"You okay, Private?" Captain Backbreaker thundered behind her, his arm like a band of steel around her slim waist. She groaned and clapped her hands once more to her tortured ears. Her gloves came away with a trickle of blood.
She coughed fitfully once more and shouted, "Just winded."
The Orc had no time to challenge her. Barring the way before them were a number of Death Knights.
Garrack boosted her off and dismounted himself.
Suppressing the urge to cough, Una cast strengthening spells, feeling Nantan and Faraji do the same. The Light came to her hesitantly at first, and she noted Faraji briefly rub a hand across his own forehead.
She pressed a hand to her forehead; she was still pained and shaky from the banshee's attack. She channeled a healing spell into herself and her pain eased.
Garrack was giving orders in brusque Orcish. The Death Knights laughed and one responded in the Captain's tongue. She blinked when she realized it was a deep, growling, but feminine voice. An Orc female. The sound echoed with an odd hollowness, as though the dead woman's words had to travel a great distance to clear her lips. Una frowned as she clearly heard Garrack's name and then another name she recognized: Naxxramas.
Faraji backed up until he was beside her and whispered a heavily accented "Stay" and jabbed a finger downwards to point at the ground and then firmly to himself. She guessed he wanted her to stay back, at range, with him.
"Lok'tar ogar!" Captain Backbreaker roared and charged, his massive sword and shield at the ready. Nantan was suddenly a massive, horned lion. With a feline scream of rage, he pounced into the fray. Dizzy was nowhere to be seen.
Armor clattered behind her. Una spun, bringing her shield up to block the incoming attack. She stomped her foot, sending Holy magic into the ground at her feet until the soil shone white. Her opponent had been a human in life, long brown hair now a sickly, yellowish-brownish gray. He hurriedly backed out of the consecrated ground, his body and armor smoking as her magic seared him.
Faraji yelled in alarm. The paladin thrust her arm out, directing her magic to the Troll. The blade aimed at the priest's belly impotently struck her magical shield. "Garrack! Behind us!" She screamed and lashed the Death Knight attacking him with an Exorcism.
He too had been a human in life. "Afraid you're going to get beat by a girl?" She taunted, praying it would be enough to keep his attention. This has never been her strong suit.
He turned, his lip curling. Una was ready for his attack, but suddenly felt hard pressed keeping both occupied. She blocked and cut, not taking her eyes off their throats. Her arms throbbed with each block.
Magic that oddly looked and felt like the divine surged around Faraji. She felt it rush through her, closing her wounds and deadening her pain.
An agonized scream galvanized her as the first knight fell. However, another soon took his place. She couldn't see which of Garrack's men it was, only the stricken look on Faraji's face as magic flickered across his hands.
Thunderous roars from both Death Knights and Orcs and the shrieks of endless numbers of undead assaulted her ears. She dove and cut, always moving, attempting to stay one step ahead. Una flooded the earth at her feet again and again with holy energy, but the tide of ghouls kept coming. For every Death Knight that fell, it seemed as though another took their place.
Her magic sputtered and failed as dark energy swirled above her.
She dove away; lashing the one she suspected cast the spell with an Exorcism. Nantan pounced on him, teeth and claws shredding undead flesh. She came up, aiming an overhead swing at the back of a Gnome Death Knight.
Garrack suddenly shoulder checked her. Una landed hard. She stared up as he struggled with a Tauren Death Knight. An ugly spiked mace struck the Orc's shield with an impact that sounded like thunder. The Captain roared guttural taunts, his eyes glowing brilliant red. Nantan left the corpse of the Gnome she had intended to attack and raked his claws into a gap in the Tauren's armor.
Running footsteps. She leapt to her feet, slamming the incoming, undead Draenei with her shield. She put her weight into a diagonal slash, pounded him with an Exorcism, and followed by a Divine Storm. With nimbleness that belied his size, the knight dodged and parried like a machine.
She felt her back press against Garrack's massive one. He reached behind with one hand, his battered fingers brushing her hip.
The Draenei grinned, a horrible rictus smile that chilled her to her core. She dove to the side as Garrack spun. He brought his sword up and around in a vicious roundhouse. Una came up behind, slashing the Knight's back. Caught between them, he fell quickly.
The paladin sensed the approach of more undead and raced forward to face it. A creature was lumbering inexorably towards the battle; grotesquely deformed, towering, and obese. The abomination burbled in surprise as she attacked, holy energy crackling over its misshapen form. Una allowed the Light to fill her and guide her attacks. Out of the corner of her eye, angelic wings of pure energy crackled and hissed from behind her. She screamed with fury as she unleashed everything she had.
She heard a feral roar as Tallak unleashed a barrage of arrows. Each bolt came within a breath of her, but each of them neatly clearing.
It was quickly dispatched, but it was merely the first of a new wave of undead and Death Knights. Her world was reduced to flashing steel, glowing blue runes, and waves of undead. She dodged, cut, and wove through, only focusing on staying alive.
As she finished off the last ghoul, she realized it was too quiet. Una looked around her in alarm. She was alone. A line of unmoving undead outlined the path she had taken. Now, she was somewhere deep in unfamiliar woodlands, far away from assistance.
She could follow the corpses back to the men, but she'd likely face more Death Knights along the way.
She started to run towards the nearest cover. It was a small strand of those strange mushrooms, but it would give her cover while she tried to determine her best course of action.
Hoof beats, growing closer fast. She spun. The paladin saw the flash of a runed blade and cold flared across her cheek. She sent more Holy energy into the ground at her feet until the dead earth burned with her power.
The Knight screamed in torment and his Death Charger faltered. His mount was nearly dead. A quick Exorcism finished it off. The Death Knight was forced to inelegantly leap from the saddle as the beast's body collapsed.
Una pressed the attack, aiming for his less protected groin area. He blocked and slashed, attempting to get past her guard. She backed into the mushrooms and a cloud of dust-like spores erupted.
The paladin lunged into clear air. The mushroom she'd backed into toppled to the ground, sending up a larger cloud of spores. Blinded, he staggered away.
She grasped her sword with both hands as divine energy arced and hissed around her like lightning. The blade found his face. With a scream of fury, she savagely twisted her sword free.
He fell. Panting, she sidestepped around his fallen body.
Una started to jog away when she heard a sudden hiss of magic followed by a groan of armor.
She spun as the defeated Death Knight climbed to his feet. Hakander had warned her about this. The young woman had never thought she'd witness it firsthand. In the span of this battle, she'd seen it repeatedly.
The Death Knight hesitated, momentarily disoriented from reanimation.
Una swept in with a scream of fury, pushing her advantage while he recovered. The Death Knight tried to run. The paladin slammed into him with an explosion of light. There was a gap where his leathers were visible. She clasped both hands to her sword and rammed him with all her might.
He fell, his glowing eyes wide as she wrenched her sword from his body with a sickening noise.
Looking around frantically, she spotted an old spear sticking from the side of a long-abandoned Scourge machine. She plunged it through the Death Knight's armor and as deep into the ground as she could, hoping it would be enough to pin him there if he reanimated again in a few more seconds.
And then she ran. The elf didn't care where she was going, only that she needed to get away. The weaker Death Knights seemed to be only able to maintain their reanimation for a few seconds. If she could outrun him, he'd expire for good before he caught her.
Low mountains stretched out before her. She hoped they were the mountains to the north, the hill country that would eventually become the Burned Wood… the Ghostlands.
Breathing was getting difficult and a stitch was forming in her side. Nausea threatened as she inadvertently continued to swallow blood.
Panting, Una stumbled into the cover of a stand of fir trees. She squatted, sucked in deep breaths, and occasionally spat mouthfuls of blood into the dead grass at her feet.
She had no idea where she was. The thick forest had thinned out, returning to sparsely growing, blighted fir trees. There wasn't a road or homestead in sight. Nothing in the way of landmarks to help her find her way.
The paladin was dismayed when she noticed she wasn't catching her breath quickly. She felt for where the pain was worst, a line going from under her left armpit down her side and then under her armor across her left breast. Her hand found a deep wound in her side. Her mind lurched in fear as she realized her armor had failed. The side panel that should have protected her side had slid at some point, creating a gap. A hole the Death Knights had exploited. She had never felt it, until now.
Adrenaline was keeping the pain at bay, but she was acutely aware the wound penetrated her lung. She awkwardly reached under her breastplate and gambeson to tear strips from her undershirt for a makeshift bandage.
Once bandaged, she used the last of her mana on the wound, hoping it would be enough to at least heal her lung. It didn't feel like it, but it was as good as she was going to get.
Una gingerly felt the rent through her right cheek. As her fingers entered her mouth through her cheek, dread shot through her veins. Her fingers had touched her teeth. She traced it with quivering fingertips, feeling it all the way past her jaw, through her right earlobe, and around the back of her head.
"By the Light…" She whispered in terror. With no more mana and her medical kit on Vesper, she was powerless to close the wound… if she could even figure out how. She spat yet another mouthful of blood.
She startled as a howl sounded in the distance. The elf held her breath, pressing herself tight against the tree. It came again. The howl was the recognizable bay of an Orcish wolf. Una's heart leapt with joy.
Tallak was searching for her. All she had to do was remain hidden. He would find her and help her.
Crouching low in the brush, she focused on taking deep breaths. A punctured lung wouldn't kill her immediately, but she was already having some difficulty breathing.
The wolf came within view, his muzzle stained crimson. Una stumbled from her cover, holding her arms out.
"Dust!" She called to the animal as it closed distance, "Dust, here!"
She froze in horror.
A gunshot wound to the side of his head had burned the fur and torn away part of his ear. A length of intestine hung from the wolf's abdomen and a brutal cleave through the chest bared ribs and breastbone.
Grief and fear coursed through her. Una clapped a hand to her mouth and fought to control her panic.
The now-undead wolf came to a halt, tipped his head back, and howled once more. A horrible equine scream answered.
Dust lowered his head, a baleful growl carrying across the distance separating them.
Una drew her sword and stepped into a ready stance. A daughter of rangers, she knew running from a tracking dog – or wolf – was pointless. Her only chance was to kill it and hope she would have time to find new cover.
The animal charged with a furious snarl, fangs bared.
She dodged. It landed, spun, and bounded at her once again.
Una lunged forward while he was still airborne, driving her sword through his chest. The tip erupted from his back. Teeth closed upon her steel gauntlet, biting down.
The elf ripped her sword free, kicking the animal away from her.
There was a faint, heart-breaking whimper. She brought her blood stained blade through Dust's neck, separating his head from his body.
The scream of a death charger echoed across the Plaguelands once again.
Una turned and ran, stumbling through the underbrush where she had previously hid. She had to make for the hills, attempt to escape into the Ghostlands, and hope they weren't tracking her.
Her mind revolted. Of course they were tracking her!
Judging by the wolf, Tallak was probably dead and reanimated by now. Her scent, the sweat and blood coming from her body, her pulse and breath would all leave a trail as clear as Quel'dori crystal. Her parents had tried to teach her how to cover her tracks, but Una had never had an aptitude for the ways of the forest, no matter how much she loved it.
She ran in terror, trying to put as much distance between herself and the wolf as possible. Put herself out of the search path and into dense cover.
A signal flare arced into the sky above the thickening, healthier pine that marked the boundary of the Ghostlands. There were people in the pass. Elves, most likely.
If she could make her way to the Thalassian Pass, she could make it to safety.
She felt the Death Grip as it closed around her from behind. As she was taught, she relaxed her body as she was hauled backwards. Her mind emptied and calm overtook her.
Una struck the ground and bounced once. She felt a wet pop in her right leg.
She climbed to her feet as the Death Knight laughed. He had been a Night Elf once, his glossy blue-black hair showing under the edges of the spiked helm. She gingerly put weight on her leg and found it stable. If she survived, she had no doubt she would feel it later.
"Come," She said wearily, "I tire of your kind."
He laughed. In life, he probably had an infectious, deep, booming laugh. In death, it rang hollow and cold.
He withdrew a spiked, two-handed axe from his back.
That axe meant trouble. He could put so much more force into his swings than she could. As tall as he was, he had greater reach. She was exhausted and probably starting to go into shock.
Una charged, keeping her center of gravity low. She dropped and slid on her hip as she passed, driving her entire weight feet-first into his knee. Living or dead, it still only took only a few pounds of force to damage joints.
If he felt anything, the dead elf gave no indication. Una scrambled to her feet and ran. However, he wasn't moving quickly as the leg failed to support his weight.
Her sword nipped and bit at him to no avail. He was doing too good a job keeping her back, but still within range of that awful axe.
His axe hooked her right arm. Una jerked her arm away frantically. Her gauntlet hung upon a spike. She heard her arm break as the Death Knight wrenched the axe sharply.
The elf woman freed herself and vaulted away. She didn't dare look at her arm.
She darted in for another attack. The ground suddenly steamed at her feet, her boots sinking into the reeking, desecrated soil.
The Death Knight gave a roar of triumph as she was slowed in melee range.
The axe came down. Una felt it crash into her left shoulder as she brought her sword up under his guard. Painfully, she clasped her right hand around the grip. Watched as though in slow motion as each finger managed to curl around. With a scream, she swung through his neck.
Brief resistance.
The Death Knight crumbled, taking the horrible weight off her.
Una swayed as she stumbled backwards and out of the desecrated soil at her feet. The air was thick with the smell of her own blood and that of the Scourge.
She stared dizzily at the unmoving, headless body of her opponent. There were arrows protruding from the headless corpse that weren't there previously. It confused her.
The young woman fell to her knees unexpectedly, feeling as if the world bucked and heaved under her. She fought the approach of unconsciousness, but she was drowning in darkness.
Running footsteps behind her.
As she felt herself slump to the ground, she could only pray they didn't see fit to reanimate her.
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